The Virginia Department of Health is reporting 8,990 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 453 from Sunday’s report.  There are now 300 deaths in Virginia as of Monday, up from 277 on Sunday.

There are 1,500 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19, according to the VDH. 1,324 confirmed COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized and discharged.

The Virginia Department of Health also lists an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in a long-term care facility in the Danville-Pittsylvania County Health District but offered no details.

There are 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Danville. That is an increase of one in the past 24 hours. Pittsylvania County has six confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The new numbers reflect the third straight day that health department officials have reported a drop in the state’s number of new coronavirus cases.

The drop in new cases marks the first time since the virus arrived in Virginia that the state has reported three consecutive days of declines, according to data kept by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Gov. Ralph Northam and federal officials have indicated they want to see a 14-day trend of declining cases before phasing in an end to the restrictions on businesses that Northam imposed in a series of executive orders to fight the spread of the virus.