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Staff Report
CHARLESTON -- Another 16 residents have been added to the COVID-19 death toll in West Virginia, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported on Tuesday.
Fifteen of the deaths were from the data reconciliation with the official death certificates by the Bureau of Public Health.
The additional 16 fatalities raises the death count since the pandemic started more than two years ago in West Virginia to 6,993.
The deaths include a 71-year-old man from Kanawha County.
The reconciliation deaths were a 66-year-old man Wayne County, a 65-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 73-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 71-year-old woman from Raleigh County, an 81-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 77-year-old woman from Mason County, a 72-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 73-year-old man from Putnam County, an 81-year-old woman from Cabell County, a 72-year-old man from Kanawha County, an 83-year-old man from Jackson County, a 76-year-old woman from Raleigh County, a 62-year-old woman from Preston County, a 74-year-old woman from Mineral County and a 74-year-old man from Lincoln County. The deaths occurred from February to May 2022 and 10 occurred in November and December.
Condolences were offered by department Secretary Bill J. Crouch.
"Today is another difficult day as West Virginia families cope with the loss of loved ones," Crouch said. "Being fully vaccinated and boosted is the most effective way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19."
The state Tuesday advised that from June 6-20, the National Center for Health Statistics will be unable to certify deaths due to a system update affecting all 50 states. The system update will impact West Virginia's ability to report COVID-19 deaths, the department said.
The Bureau for Public Health's Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services will continue to certify and report deaths using the death reconciliation process, however, there may be a dramatic decrease in deaths reported during this time period, the department said.
Active cases dropped by 160 statewide between Monday and Tuesday, from 2,547 on Monday to 2,387 active COVID-19 cases statewide. New cases received were 502 from Monday to Tuesday, the state said.
Current active cases in local counties (previous day) are: Calhoun 10 (9), Doddridge 9 (8), Gilmer 12 (10), Jackson 9 (13), Pleasants 4 (5), Ritchie 12 (12), Roane 16 (24), Tyler 17 (14), Wetzel 35 (41), Wirt 1 (3) and Wood 58 (62).
Twenty counties are yellow, second lowest, on the County Alert System Map based on infection rates. Green is the lowest.
In this region, Wetzel, Tyler Doddridge, Ritchie and Roane counties are yellow. All other counties in the region and the state are green.
Twenty-seven staff and 155 inmates are injected in the Division of Corrections. Most inmate cases are at the North Central Regional Jail, 113.
The state reported 179 patients statewide are in the hospital with COVID complications, 86 of those are unvaccinated. Thirty residents are in an intensive care unit, 16 unvaccinated and nine are on a ventilator, two unvaccinated.
Nine pediatric patients were reported with four in an ICU and one on a ventilator.