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CHARLESTON -- Active COVID-19 cases continued to decline, and no West Virginia counties were in the two highest levels of spread when the County Alert System map was updated Monday morning.
The map classifies counties based on the lower of the number of new cases per 100,000 people in a seven- or 14-day period, depending on population, or percentage of tests coming back positive. The lowest level is green, rising to yellow, gold, orange and red.
No counties were red or orange, with just seven of 55 in the middle level of gold.
Among those were Doddridge, Ritchie and Roane in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Ritchie was also there Friday, while Doddridge and Roane rose from yellow.
Wetzel County dropped from gold to yellow, and Tyler County went from yellow to green. Wood, Wirt, Calhoun, Jackson, Pleasants and Gilmer counties remained green.
Active cases statewide tallied 3,045, down from 3,339 on Friday. Officials have said the surge attributed to the more-infectious omicron variant appears to be ending, although deaths tend to lag behind active cases.
Nine deaths were announced by the state Department of Health and Human Resources Monday, the fewest in updates over the last week.
Among those whose deaths were attributed to COVID-19 were two Wood County men, ages 84 and 81, and an 83-year-old man from Wetzel County. The youngest death reported was a 42-year-old Nicholas County man, while the oldest were a Raleigh County man and a Kanawha County woman, both 95.
"As West Virginians, we must not tire of preventive measures that ensure the health and safety of our friends, family and neighbors," said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch. "I urge you to get vaccinated and boosted."
Active cases in local counties on Monday (Friday) were: Calhoun, 18 (29); Doddridge, 25 (22); Gilmer, 6 (13); Jackson, 12 (34); Pleasants, 13 (12); Ritchie, 29 (30); Roane, 33 (33); Tyler, 8 (19); Wetzel, 33 (43); Wirt, 4 (1); Wood, 115 (129).
Hospitalization numbers declined slightly. There were 530 people hospitalized statewide with the virus Monday, 62.6 percent of them not fully vaccinated. COVID patients in intensive care units numbered 123, 76.4 percent unvaccinated. There were 73 patients on ventilators, 82.2 percent unvaccinated. There were eight children hospitalized with COVID.