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CHARLESTON -- After weeks of a mostly green COVID-19 County Alert System map, a majority of counties were yellow, according to statistics released Friday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
The number of active cases tallied 2,321, a net increase of more than 200. A total of 812 new cases were reported from Thursday to Friday morning.
Twenty-nine of the state's 55 counties were yellow, the second-lowest category of the five-tiered system measuring spread of the virus based on new cases per 100,000 people in a given period or percentage of tests coming back positive, whichever is lower. The rest were green, the lowest level.
In the Mid-Ohio Valley, Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler and Wetzel counties were yellow.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID community level guidelines, most area counties are still considered low risk. But the measures -- which take into account the number of new cases, the share of hospital beds being used and hospital admissions -- place Roane and Wetzel counties in the medium risk category. The agency recommends residents in medium-risk areas who "are at high risk for severe illness" talk to their health care provider about whether they should wear a mask or take other precautions.
According to state data, active cases in local counties Friday (Thursday) were: Calhoun, 11 (10); Doddridge, 4 (3); Gilmer, 4 (2); Jackson, 12 (12); Pleasants, 4 (4); Ritchie, 10 (8); Roane, 30 (25); Tyler, 9 (4); Wetzel, 32 (24); Wirt, 2 (4); Wood, 56 (56).
DHHR announced three more deaths attributed to the virus: an 89-year-old woman and 82-year-old man from Kanawha County and a 90-year-old woman from Ohio County. That brings the state total to 6,974 since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
"Every loss brings grief to family and friends," DHHR Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. "We must do our best to stop this deadly virus by choosing to be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19."
Hospitalization data changed little from Thursday. There were 176 patients with COVID in hospitals around the state, with more than half, 93, classified as vaccinated, meaning they had at least two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one of the Johnson & Johnson. State officials have noted that does not take into account recommended booster doses, as immunity from the vaccines wanes over time.
Twenty-five patients were in intensive care units, 16 of them vaccinated. Ten were on ventilators, seven vaccinated. There were six pediatric hospitalizations confirmed, one of them in ICU.