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CHARLESTON -- Active cases of the virus have exceeded 15,000 in West Virginia while hospitalizations are above 700, according to the Monday morning pandemic update from the Department of Health and Human Resources.
The state reported 15,015 active COVID-19 cases, up from 11,017 cases from the last update on Thursday. The most active cases in West Virginia was 29,744 on Sept. 16.
The state also reported 9,164 new cases of the virus have been confirmed since the Thursday report. The daily positivity rate is 19.33% and the cumulative rate is 6.6%.
Active cases in Wood County as of Monday were at 457. Active cases in other local counties as of Monday are: Wirt, 20; Wetzel, 118; Tyler, 34; Roane, 80; Ritchie, 44; Pleasants, 38; Jackson, 130; Gilmer, 40; Doddridge, 24; Calhoun, 25.
State health officials have cautioned residents that cases would increase when colder weather arrived and people are spending more time indoors. Another concern is the impact on the omicron variant of the virus, considered more infectious than the delta variant, will have on hospitals in West Virginia.
Hospitalizations in West Virginia as of Monday were 721. Of those confirmed cases, 564 people are unvaccinated, the state said.
The most patients in the hospital with COVID was 1,012 on Sept. 24.
Of the 189 patients in an intensive care unit, 159 are unvaccinated and of the 114 people on a ventilator, 101 are unvaccinated, the state said.
ICU admissions were at their highest at 296 on Sept. 29 while the most people on ventilators was 195 on Sept. 25.
Thirty-nine COVID patients are in the hospital at WVU Medicine Camden Clark. Twelve have been vaccinated.
One of five patients in the Camden Clark ICU has been vaccinated while one of the five patients on a ventilator has been vaccinated, the medical center said.
Thirty-eight counties are red, the highest level on the County Alert System map based on infection rates. Locally Wood, Wetzel, Jackson and Ritchie counties are red.
Pleasants, Tyler, Roane and Gilmer are orange, second highest. Wirt and Doddridge are gold, mid level. Calhoun is one of four green counties, the lowest level.
The death toll since the pandemic began was at 5,356 on Monday. Twenty deaths have been confirmed since the last report.
The deaths included a 72-year-old woman from Ritchie County and a 63-year-old woman from Jackson County. Also reported were deaths in Cabell, Jefferson, Fayette, Mason, Ohio, Kanawha, Raleigh, Mingo, Hardy, Greenbrier, Raleigh, Lewis and Hancock counties.
The youngest was a 38-year-old man from Mason County.