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West Virginia sets active COVID case record

CHARLESTON — West Virginia reached a new COVID-19 active case high Friday while 57 more deaths have been attributed to the virus since the Thursday morning pandemic update, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. The deaths include those in a data reconciliation with the death certificates by the Bureau of Public Health, the state said. Among the dead are a 67-year-old man from Wood County, a 45-year-old man from Wood County, an 87-year-old woman from Wirt County, a 52-year-old woman from Wood County and a 74-year-old woman from Wetzel County. The ...

West Virginia officials say COVID hospitalizations, deaths will continue to climb

CHARLESTON — The governor thinks West Virginia may be getting nearer to the peak of the current COVID-19 surge, but hospitalizations and deaths will continue to climb for several weeks after, state officials said Friday. “I feel in my heart that we’re getting closer,” Gov. Jim Justice said during his Friday pandemic briefing. “But at the same time when you’ve lost 70-some folks and you have to go through and read these people and everything, it’s really, really sad. That’s all there is to it.” The Department of Health and Human Resources reported 29,744 active cases ...

Couch: Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department having hard time keeping employees

PARKERSBURG — The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department is struggling to keep employees amid the pressures of an ongoing pandemic, Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said Thursday. “They’re losing people. They’re trying to find ways to keep them,” Couch told fellow ...

West Virginia voters still approve of Justice COVID response, support vaccine choice

CHARLESTON — A new poll released Thursday showed that even with the increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, voters still support Gov. Jim Justice’s pandemic response. It also found a majority of voters support vaccine choice versus mandates. The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce commissioned a poll through Virginia-based North Star Opinion Research. The poll surveyed 600 registered voters between Sept. 7-9 via live phone calls. Quotas were set by age, gender and county according to the number of voters in each county. The poll has a margin of error of 4 ...