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CHARLESTON -- Active COVID-19 cases dropped over 2,600 in West Virginia, where hospitalizations reached 1,100 on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
The department reported 12,843 active cases Tuesday and 2,151 new cases received since the last report on Monday morning.
Active cases on Monday were at 15,490. Cases were 17,468 on Sunday and 17,098 on Friday.
The most active cases were 29,744 on Sept. 16, based on the previous 10-day active status guideline. The state changed to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's five-day active status guideline on Jan. 6.
All counties in the region again posted lower active case numbers from Monday. Local active cases Tuesday (Monday) were: Calhoun, 37 (40): Doddridge, 58 (69); Gilmer, 36 (41); Jackson, 49 (83); Pleasants, 34 (38); Ritchie, 59 (79); Roane, 72 (82); Tyler, 44 (70); Wetzel, 110 (151); Wirt, 33 (37); Wood, 471 (563).
While active cases are decreasing, hospitalizations continue to rise, which was not unexpected, according to Dr. Clay Marsh, coronavirus leader and adviser in West Virginia.
The state reported that of the 1,100 patients in the hospital with COVID complications, 748 are unvaccinated. Of the 239 in an intensive care unit, 182 are unvaccinated. Of the 120 patients on a ventilator, 102 are unvaccinated.
Tuesday's new hospitalization number exceeds the high mark of 1,080 on Jan. 27.
Fourteen pediatric patients were reported Tuesday, with three in an ICU and one on a ventilator.
WVU Medicine Camden Clark reported 73 COVID patients Tuesday, 26 of those who have been vaccinated. Ten patients are in the ICU, two vaccinated, and five patients are on ventilators, one vaccinated.
Fifteen more West Virginia residents have been confirmed as dying from the virus between Monday and Tuesday, raising the death toll to 5,778 since the pandemic began.
The deaths include an 81-year-old woman from Wood County. Other deaths were confirmed in Kanawha, Jefferson, Berkeley, Raleigh, Brooke, Monroe and Cabell counties.
DHHR Secretary Bill J. Crouch offered the state's condolences.
"The loss of additional lives is painful to report," he said, while encouraging people to be vaccinated and boosted.
Only Wetzel County in the region is red on the County Alert System map. Red is the worst level based on infection rates.
Jackson County is the only county in the region and one of two in the state that is green, the lowest level on the map. The other green county is Tucker.
Pleasants, Roane and Gilmer counties are mid-level gold.
No longer red, Wood, Wirt, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge and Calhoun are orange, No. 2 on the map in severity.
The state reported 875 active inmate cases and 224 staff cases in correctional institutions. Active inmate cases were 120 at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County.
Statewide in long-term care facilities, 677 residents have the virus with 1,115 staff infected.