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COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop in West Virginia

PARKERSBURG — A Wood County resident is one of two COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Monday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Also, Wirt County is now gold on the County Alert System Map where all counties are green, the lowest level of alert based on infections, as they have been since late March.

The department reported the death of a 73-year-old woman from Wood County and an 86-year-old woman from Ohio County in Monday morning’s pandemic update.

The statewide death count since the COVID-19 pandemic started more than two years ago was at 6,755 residents, the department said.

In Wood County, 342 deaths have been recorded, third highest in the state behind Kanawha and Cabell counties.

“Any death due to COVID is one too many,” DHHR Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. “The best way to end continued loss of life is for all eligible West Virginians to choose to be vaccinated and boosted.”

Active cases slightly decreased from Friday’s update and were 321 on Monday.

However, it’s not over, according to Dr. Clay Marsh, coronavirus adviser for the state.

“We’re not finished with COVID until COVID is finished with us,” he said during Gov. Jim Justice’s online briefing.

Active cases in local counties Monday (Friday) were: Calhoun, 1 (2); Doddridge, 4 (0); Gilmer, 1 (2); Jackson, 0 (2); Pleasants, 1 (1); Ritchie, 4 (4); Roane, 4 (3); Tyler, 1 (1); Wetzel, 3 (3); Wirt, 9 (3); Wood, 17 (11).

Each county’s color on the County Alert System map is based on the lower of two indicators — infection rate and percent positivity. While the percent positivity was in the orange range, second highest on the map, the infection rate was at the gold level in Wirt County. Gold is the middle level of the system.

Hospitalizations also have continued to decline and were at 101 on Monday, 54 of those unvaccinated. Thirty-four people are in an intensive care unit, 20 unvaccinated, and 16 are on ventilators, 10 unvaccinated.

Three pediatric patients and one in an ICU were reported.

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