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CHARLESTON - A 21-year-old man from Jackson County was among the confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wednesday morning's pandemic update from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
Deaths also included a 52-year-old man from Wood County, an 80-year-old woman from Wood County, a 54-year-old man from Jackson County, a 50-year-old man from Jackson County, a 74-year-old woman from Wood County, a 56-year-old woman from Wood County and an 85-year-old man from Wood County,
Seventy-four deaths were confirmed Wednesday morning, including 22 people in a routine data reconciliation with death certificates. Of the 74, 25 people were younger than 60.
The statewide death toll stands at 4,219 people since the pandemic began.
In addition to the local deaths, the state reported deaths of residents of Mineral, Logan, Cabell, Upshur, Brooke, Marshall, Monongalia, Lewis, Fayette, Randolph, Putnam, Grant, Kanawha, Jefferson, Preston, Tucker, Berkeley, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Hancock, Upshur, Marion, Braxton and Wayne counties.
Deaths reported in the reconciliation were in Upshur, Kanawha, Wayne, Ohio, Cabell, Marshall, Marion, Hardy, Randolph, Barbour, Clay, Harrison, Braxton, McDowell, Jefferson, Monongalia, Mingo, Brooke, Nicholas and Boone counties. Most were from August through October with one death from 2020 and one from January.
Vaccination will prevent deaths, said Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday, reiterating pleas for nearly the past year to encourage vaccination.
"The more of us who are vaccinated, the less will die," Justice said.
The state had fully vaccinated 58.2 percent of eligible residents 12 and older as of Wednesday, the DHHR said.
In Wood County, 237 people have died since the pandemic began, according to the state statistics. Eighty-three people have died in Jackson County.
The number of active cases in West Virginia has dropped to 8,469, about 130 less than Tuesday. The state reported 1,012 new cases received in the 24-hour period from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The high mark of active cases was 29,744 on Sept. 16. State officials have attributed the latest surge in cases to the more infectious delta variant and unvaccinated residents.
Active cases in Wood County were 372 on Wednesday, a drop of three since Tuesday. Peak cases of 1,510 were reached Sept. 17 in Wood County.
Active cases in other counties in the region on Wednesday were (previous day): Calhoun, 43 (42); Doddridge, 30 (32); Gilmer, 23 (26); Jackson, 148 (153); Pleasants, 27 (29); Ritchie, 52 (50); Roane, 75 (72); Tyler, 22 (24); Wetzel, 68 (67); Wirt, 44 (48).
Wood and Jackson remain the only local counties in the red zone on the County Alert System map. Red is the highest level of spread of the virus, based on new cases per 100,000 residents in a given period or percentage of positive tests, whichever is lower.
Tyler, Doddridge and Roane counties remained gold, mid-level on the chart. Wetzel, Pleasants, Ritchie, Wirt and Calhoun remain orange, second highest.
Gilmer remains green, the lowest level.
The state reported 714 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals, 76.9 percent of them unvaccinated. The number of patients in an intensive care unit was 211 on Wednesday, 86.7 percent of those unvaccinated. On ventilators were 128 people, 87.5 percent of those are unvaccinated.