ROANOKE, Virginia – By calculating the numbers, parts of central and southwestern Virginia have been hit harder than others by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When it comes to case rates, the worst was Galax, then Lexington followed by Martinsville.

Galax also leads hospitalization and death rates, but it’s important to note that of the city’s 53 total deaths, more than half were linked to outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

As for who is doing the best, Highland County has the lowest case, hospitalization and death rates with a single person dying from COVID-19.

Floyd, Nelson and Montgomery counties follow.

“We did the best we could,” said Dr Cynthia Morrow, Roanoke City and Allegany Health Districts,

The Roanoke Valley fell in the middle of the pack. Overall, she says the biggest indicator of success early in the pandemic was adherence to health and prevention measures.

“Those communities that had more stringent community mitigation regulations in place did better than those that did not,” Morrow said.

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When it comes to vaccination rates, Roanoke County leads with 57/8% of the population with at least one dose, with Carroll County only 34.5% behind.

Morrow said the pandemic had highlighted disparities.

“Whether it’s geography, whether it’s race or ethnicity, whether it’s income, whether it’s political perspective,” Morrow said. “When we see disparities like this and we see deep disparities in Southwest Virginia, it just makes me feel, ‘What can we do better? What can we do to improve ourselves? What can we as a health service do to make sure everyone has an equal chance to be healthy? “

While no one can change the past, Morrow says anyone can control the future.

“We still have COVID in our community and we all need to do what we can to prevent the next case.

Here’s a full breakdown of the localities that did the best and the worst during the pandemic:

1. Galax – 18,231.4

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• o 1,171 cases in total

• o 97 hospitalizations

• 53 deaths (27 were linked to outbreaks in long-term care facilities)

2. Lexington – 16,886.2

• 1,205 cases in total

• 29 hospitalizations

• 33 deaths 9- were linked to outbreaks in long-term care facilities

3. Martinsville – 12,625.9

• 1629 cases in total

• 170 hospitalizations

• 79 deaths

4. Radford – 11 920

• 2186 cases in total

• 40 hospitalizations

• 20 deaths – 19 were linked to outbreaks in long-term care facilities

1. Galaxy – 1,510

2. Martinsville -1318

3. Danville – 769

4. Carroll County -759

1. Highland County – 4,977.4

• 110 cases in total

• 1 hospitalized

• 1 death

2. Floyd County – 5,609.4

• 886 cases in total

• 31 hospitalized

• 22 deaths

3. Nelson – 6012.4

• 892 cases in total

• 41 hospitalized

• 13 deaths

1. Highland County – 45

2. Montgomery County -193

3. Floyd County -196

1. Highland County – 45.2

2. Nelson -87.6

3. Montgomery County -97