As January became the worst month of the COVID-19 pandemic in Warren County Tuesday, the recent trend of new cases in the county is improving.

As of Tuesday, Warren County has reported 973 new cases of the virus in January, surpassing December’s record mark of 956.

But even though January has become the pandemic’s worst month, it appears the spike in new cases has begun to decline. Over the last seven days, Warren County has reported 24.0 new cases per day, a level not seen since early December.

On Jan. 12, Warren County saw its highest 7-day average, when the county was seeing more than 52 new cases per day.

Sadly, though January has already staked its claim as the deadliest month of the pandemic. With the two deaths reported Friday, Warren County has now seen a total of 23 virus-related deaths in January, outpacing the 21 deaths reported in August and in December.

During Monday’s work session, the Warren County Board of Supervisors expressed support of extending the county’s current COVID-19 orders, which are set to expire on Feb. 1. Although there was no information given as to how long the extension would be for, supervisors did say that the orders would remain as they are now, which does include the continuation of a mask mandate.

The 13 new cases reported pushes the total number of cases reported in Warren County during the months-long pandemic to 3,698. The county has also reported 103 virus-related deaths.

The first case of COVID-19 was first reported in Warren County on March 29, while the first virus-related death was confirmed on April 6.