{"id":21427,"date":"2022-02-15T17:30:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T17:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/15\/va-tops-20000-covid-deaths-in-less-than-two-years\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:47:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:47:33","slug":"va-tops-20000-covid-deaths-in-less-than-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/coronavirus\/2022\/02\/15\/va-tops-20000-covid-deaths-in-less-than-two-years\/","title":{"rendered":"VA tops 20,000 COVID deaths in less than two years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Veterans Affairs topped 20,000 deaths connected to COVID-19<\/a> on Tuesday, just a few weeks before the two-year anniversary of the first pandemic case within the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The totals equate to about 28 deaths a day from the virus over the last 23 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grim milestone comes as the latest nationwide surge<\/a> in cases related to the virus\u2019 Omicron variant has abated. Active cases at VA medical centers across the country had spiked at nearly 78,000 in mid-January, but had dropped to around 20,000 over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a lower fatality rate among patients who contracted that variant, the number of deaths among VA patients has also surged along with the higher caseload. Of the 20,131 deaths reported thus far, almost 2,400 \u2014 12 percent of the pandemic total \u2014 have come since Jan. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\t