UNDATED – The Virginia Department of Health says that COVID infection rates are climbing, with case counts rising 140 percent since early August.

The state recorded one-thousand-thirty-five new cases last Thursday – hitting four digits for the first time in over six months.

New cases are nowhere near the all-time high of more than 26-thousand, recorded January 8th of last year. However, case counts have been trending up since mid-June when just 65 new daily cases were tallied.

Officials say that kids returning to school could be to blame for the uptick.

In Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, about 360 new cases have been tracked over the last 13 weeks.