{"id":63280,"date":"2020-09-15T16:38:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T16:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/15\/vas-active-coronavirus-cases-decline-but-deaths-continue-to-mount\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:29:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:29:38","slug":"vas-active-coronavirus-cases-decline-but-deaths-continue-to-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2020\/09\/15\/vas-active-coronavirus-cases-decline-but-deaths-continue-to-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"VA\u2019s active coronavirus cases decline, but deaths continue to mount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Active coronavirus cases<\/a> in the Veterans Affairs health care system are at their lowest levels in nearly three months, but the department remains on pace to add another 600 deaths<\/a> from the illness by the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Monday evening, VA officials reported 2,945 active cases of coronavirus at 135 medical centers across the country. The figure marked a full week of fewer than 3,000 current cases at VA facilities for the first time since last June, and a decrease of more than 26 percent fewer cases than one month ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VA officials have said they see the fluctuating case counts as an unreliable measure of the department\u2019s response to the ongoing pandemic. Instead, they point to monthly hospitalization rates as a more relevant figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\t