Trending
CHARLESTON -- Wood County dropped out of the red zone in the County Alert System Map while two Jackson Countians are among the COVID-19 deaths confirmed Wednesday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
The state reported the deaths of a 67-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man from Jackson County. The death count in Jackson County as of Wednesday is 101 residents since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020 in West Virginia.
Also confirmed Wednesday were deaths in Cabell, Greenbrier, Monongalia, Mineral, Raleigh, Marshall, Mason, Berkeley, Jefferson, Harrison, Kanawha, Brooke, Taylor, Marion and Nicholas counties. The youngest was a 45-year-old man from Raleigh County.
Twenty-eight additional deaths have been confirmed since the last update on Tuesday by the department.
Department Secretary Bill J. Crouch expressed the condolences from the state and encouragement to get vaccinated.
Most of the deaths and hospitalizations from the virus are residents who are unvaccinated.
"Every loss is painful, a feeling which seems to intensify during the holidays," Crouch said. "Good health is the greatest gift we can have or share with others. I urge all who are eligible to be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19."
Statewide, the death count from the virus was at 5,142 as of Wednesday.
The state reported 8,304 active cases of the virus with 1,260 new cases received since gthe last update on Tuesday.
Tuesday's active case total was 8,002. The most active cases during the pandemic in West Virginia was 29,744 on Sept. 16.
Active cases in local counties (previous day) are: Wood, 328 (323); Wirt, 25 (24); Wetzel, 46 (48); Roane, 76 (78); Ritchie, 41 (36); Pleasants, 22 (28); Jackson, 55 (56); Gilmer, 15 (7); Doddridge, 33 (27); Calhoun, 59 (40.)
Wood County dropped from red, the worst level of infection rates, to orange, second highest, on the County Alert System. Wirt County also dropped from red to orange.
Thirteen counties in West Virginia are red. No red counties are in the region.
Wood, Wirt, Jackson, Roane, Calhoun, Ritchie and Doddridge counties are orange. Wetzel is mid-level gold. Tyler and Pleasants are yellow, second lowest. Gilmer is green, the lowest level on the map.
A small decline occurred in the number of people who are hospitalized. The state reported 629 people are in a hospital, 506 of whom are unvaccinated. Of the 201 people in an intensive care unit, 175 are unvaccinated. Of the 120 patients on a ventilator, 103 are unvaccinated.
The record number of hospitalizations was 1,012 on Sept. 24. Cases are primarily the delta strain and no cases of the omicron strain have been detected in West Virginia.