CHARLESTON — Twenty-two more deaths from the COVID-19 virus, among them residents from Wood and Wetzel counties, were reported in West Virginia from Tuesday to Wednesday morning, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

Active cases also increased almost 1,000 since Tuesday morning, according to the department’s latest statistics, while hospitalizations, updated during the governor’s online briefing, surged to 670 with intensive care unit and ventilator numbers nearing the January peaks, James Hoyer, who heads the interagency task force on vaccines, said.

The youngest of the dead were two 34-year-old men from Monroe and Randolph counties and a 41-year-old man from Marion County.

The death count was at 3,106 residents of West Virginia since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Wednesday’s accounting of deaths from the virus included a 68-year-old man from Wood County and a 79-year-old man from Wetzel County. Deaths in Wood and Wetzel counties were at 183 and 34, respectively, as of Wedneday morning.

“If you’re not vaccinated, there’s a good chance you’re in the death drawing,” said Gov. Jim Justice, trying to draw a parallel between not getting vaccinated and the prizes offered in the Do it for Babydog sweepstakes for vaccinated residents.

Other deaths reported, which included residents in their 50s, were in Putnam, Randolph, Kanawha, Mercer, Barbour, Webster, Lewis, Hampshire, Jefferson, Marshall, Monongalia, Boone and McDowell counties.

“We extend our sympathy to all of the families affected by these deaths,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. “To West Virginians who are eligible, but not yet vaccinated, know that getting vaccinated is the key to stopping the spread of COVID-19.”

The department reported 17,644 active cases, up from 16,743 on Tuesday, and 1,466 new cases received since Tuesday morning.

(View Tuesday’s report at https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx)

Active cases have more than doubled in about two weeks. The peak was in January at more than 29,000 cases.

In the governor’s briefing, Hoyer said 670 people are in a hospital with 200 in intensive care and 109 on ventilators. The intensive care is near the Jan. 6 peak of 219 while the ventilator number has surpassed the 104 mark at that time.

Thirty-seven counties are red on the County Alert System map, the worst level on the charts, and 15 are orange, second highest. Tucker and Pocahontas counties are yellow and Morgan is gold. No counties are green, the lowest level.

Wood, Wetzel, Wirt, Tyler, Calhoun, Jackson, Ritchie and Roane counties are among the red. Pleasants, Gilmer and Doddridge are orange.

The number of delta variant infections increased by 260 cases since the last report on Tuesday, from 854 to 1,114. It takes longer to detect the variant because of the required genetic sequencing, state officials said.

Health officers say the more infectious delta mutation is becoming the predominant strain.

Wood County now has 59 cases of the delta variant, up one since the last report. Four more cases have been found in Wetzel County where 14 cases are reported. Six were reported in Doddridge, two more than the last update. Twenty-three were reported in Jackson County, one more than the last report.

Wood County remains in the top five of counties with delta cases. The most are in Berkeley County with 192, followed by 61 in Monongalia and Jefferson counties. Fifty-eight cases are in Kanawha County.