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Justice pushes more people to Job Jumpstart program

CHARLESTON — Despite unemployment numbers in West Virginia being at record lows, Gov. Jim Justice hopes to reverse the state’s labor force participation rate that was low even before COVID-19 by paying people to return to the workforce. Speaking during his Monday virtual briefing at the Capitol, Justice encouraged more non-working West Virginians to sign up for the Job Jumpstart program through WorkForce West Virginia. The Job Jumpstart program, based on a similar program offered in Oklahoma, provides eligible residents with $1,500 if they were previously unemployed, became ...

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop in West Virginia

PARKERSBURG — A Wood County resident is one of two COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Monday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Also, Wirt County is now gold on the County Alert System Map where all counties are green, the lowest level of alert based on infections, as they have been since late March. The department reported the death of a 73-year-old woman from Wood County and an 86-year-old woman from Ohio County in Monday morning’s pandemic update. The statewide death count since the COVID-19 pandemic started more than two years ago was at 6,755 residents, ...

West Virginia reports slight rise in active COVID cases

CHARLESTON — Active cases slightly rose again in West Virginia where the state is reporting another four deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Department of Health and Human Resources reported 358 active cases statewide, up from the 324 reported on Thursday. Cases were below 300, 263, a week ago. Wood County active cases were 11 on Friday, no change from Thursday. Active cases in other local counties on Friday (previous day) were: Calhoun 2 (2), Doddridge 0 (0), Gilmer 2 (2), Jackson 2 (3), Pleasants 1 (0), Ritchie 4 (5), Roane 3 (4), Tyler 1 (1), Wetzel 3 (2), Wirt 3 ...

Amjad: West Virginia’s hospital numbers good, active COVID cases may be low

CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s active COVID-19 case numbers continue to be low, but the state health officer said those statistics may not paint a full picture of the prevalence of the virus. “We are concerned that the number that we see of active cases are not reflective of what we have ...

Pleasants County woman among latest COVID-19 deaths

CHARLESTON — Eight additional deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in West Virginia, including that of a Pleasants County resident. Three new deaths were reported Thursday by the state Department of Health and Human Resources: an 80-year-old woman from Pleasants County, an 84-year-old man from Berkeley County and a 73-year-old man from Putnam County. The Bureau for Public Health’s ongoing data reconciliation with official death certificates added five more deaths, ranging in age from a 54-year-old Barbour County man to a 92-year-old Mason County woman, that occurred from January ...

West Virginia sees active COVID cases fluctuate, hospitalizations continue decline

CHARLESTON — Active cases again fluctuated on Wednesday in West Virginia where another 25 residents are confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Resources reported. The state reported 305 active cases on Wednesday after Tuesday’s pandemic update cited 263, the lowest numbers since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020. Active cases in local counties (previous day) are: Calhoun 2 (1), Doddridge 0 (0), Gilmer 1 (1), Jackson 3 (2), Pleasants 0 (2), Ritchie 4 (4), Roane 4 (3), Tyler 1 (2), Wetzel 1 (3), Wirt 1 (1), Wood 10 (8). The 25 ...