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Coronavirus

Memorial Health System nurse practitioner describes job in pandemic

MARIETTA — A Memorial Health System nurse practitioner took to social media to share her experience on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 and encourage people to get vaccinated against the virus. “From a health care perspective, it’s really, really emotionally wrecking. It’s really hard to see so many patients dying,” Megan Barnette said as she fought back tears in a Facebook Live post she made Wednesday and her employer shared Thursday. “And we’re to that point where, nearly every shift, a COVID-vented patient is coding now.” Marietta Memorial Hospital this ...

Mid-Ohio Valley reports another fives deaths from COVID-19

CHARLESTON — Five residents from the region are among the 17 confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 virus reported Thursday morning by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. The youngest was a 33-year-old woman from Kanawha County, the state said. Among the deaths were an 84-year-old man from Wood County, a 65-year-old man from Wood County, a 52-year-old man from Ritchie County, a 56-year-old woman from Wetzel County and an 89-year-old man from Wetzel County. The state also confirmed the deaths of a 53-year-old woman from Mercer County, a 79-year-old woman from ...

West Virginia preparing plans for COVID-19 treatments as feds limit supply

CHARLESTON — With hospitals in West Virginia filling up with unvaccinated people with severe COVID-19 infections, state officials are wanting to get monoclonal antibody treatments out quick to blunt the run on hospitals. But actions by federal officials could halt that plan before it starts. ...

Justice: COVID a ‘disease of the unvaccinated’

CHARLESTON — The COVID-19 virus has become “the disease of the unvaccinated,” Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday. Justice reported another 58 West Virginians have been added to the list of state residents succumbing to COVID, bringing the state’s number to 3,296. Justice and other state officials noted that most dying from COVID had not been vaccinated for the virus. Justice quoted State Sen.Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, a physician and pulmonary specialist, as saying, “COVID has become the disease of the unvaccinated.” Data pertaining to the number of West Virginians currently ...

Marietta Memorial Hospital sets COVID census record

MARIETTA — Marietta Memorial Hospital eclipsed last year’s peak number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. “We are in a crisis as the demand for health care services is outstripping our ability to meet it,” said Jennifer Offenberger, associate vice president for service excellence for the Memorial Health System. “Our ICU is currently at 200 percent of designed capacity.” The health system posted on its Facebook page Wednesday that it had 78 patients with the coronavirus, 65 of whom were unvaccinated. The patients range in age from 27 to 89 years old. In ...