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West Virginia says active COVID cases above 2K again

CHARLESTON — Active cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus rose over 2,000 again on Thursday, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources said.

The state reported 2,004 active COVID-19 cases statewide, up from 1,855 on Wednesday. Also, the state said 654 new cases of the virus were received in the period between the Wednesday and Thursday pandemic updates.

The Rt value, which measures the rate of spread of the virus, is below 1 in West Virginia, James Hoyer, director of the interagency task force on vaccines, said. An Rt number below 1 means the virus is decreasing, he said.

“Which is a good sign,” Hoyer said.

Vaccinations are slow, but are slowly going upward, Hoyer said.

The state also is preparing for when vaccines will be available to those 5 and under, he said. About 17,400 anticipated doses will be made available to the state, Hoyer said. Doses will arrive between Monday and June 29, he said.

“About 8,600 of those will be Moderna, 8,800 Pfizer. About half of those have been ordered by our pharmacies,” Hoyer said. “The other half are for physician offices including pediatricians, as well as local health departments, community health centers and hospitals.”

Pharmacies can offer a shot to those 3 and older, he said. For those under 3, the parents will have to contact a physician or local health department, according to Hoyer.

Current active cases in local counties (previous day) are: Calhoun 7 (10), Doddridge 5 (6), Gilmer 12 (13), Jackson 16 (13), Pleasants 6 (5), Ritchie 9 (7), Roane 22 (18), Tyler 12 (10), Wetzel 23 (23), Wirt 3 (2) and Wood 64 (64).

One death was reported Wednesday, raising the total to 7,017 deaths attributed to COVID-19. The state confirmed Thursday the death of a 39-year-old woman from Berkeley County.

“Our hearts go out to this family,” DHHR Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. “I urge you to get vaccinated or boosted to help save the lives of your family, neighbors and friends.”

Deaths may be under reported through June 20 while the National Center for Health Statistics performs a system update affecting all states and the center will be unable to certify deaths. The state Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services will certify and report deaths using the death reconciliation process with the death certificates, however, there may be a decrease in deaths reported during this time period.

Twenty-four counties are yellow on the County Alert System Map. Yellow is second lowest to green in terms of infection rates. Twenty counties were yellow on Wednesday.

Only Tyler and Ritchie counties are yellow in this region. All other counties are green in the map.

A dozen fewer patients are in a hospital statewide since Tuesday, the department said. The state reported 191 people in the hospital, 90 unvaccinated, with 24 in an intensive care unit, 10 unvaccinated, and six on ventilators, all vaccinated. Four pediatric cases with one in an ICU were reported.

Thirty-six staff and 157 inmates have the virus, the Division of Corrections said. Forty are in the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County.

Of the 5,992 West Virginians who died from COVID-19 after vaccines became available in December 2020, about 15 percent were vaccinated. The remainder of the dead are unvaccinated, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources.

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