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CHARLESTON -- A 39-year-old Jackson County man and a 69-year-old Roane County woman were among six people whose deaths were attributed to COVID-19 on Tuesday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources as active cases again dropped slightly but remained over 3,000.
In its Tuesday morning update, the DHHR reported the deaths of the two Mid-Ohio Valley residents, along with an 85-year-old Raleigh County woman, a 93-year-old Marshall County man, a 71-year-old Mercer County man and an 83-year-old Kanawha County man.
"As we honor those we have lost, I urge all West Virginians to do their part to reduce the spread of this virus through vaccination and boosters which will help prevent further loss of life," DHHR Secretary Bill J. Crouch said.
Hospitalizations with COVID-19 rose from 320 to 329, with slightly more patients (166) considered vaccinated than unvaccinated (163). An individual is classified as vaccinated if they received the first two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-dose Johnson and Johnson shot. It does not take into account recommended booster doses.
Forty-eight COVID patients were in intensive care units compared to 44 on Monday. Of those, 27 were unvaccinated.
There were 17 patients on ventilators, nine unvaccinated. That's an increase from Monday's count of 12.
James Hoyer, the head of West Virginia's interagency task force on vaccines, said COVID hospital admissions have been "bouncing between 40 and 50 individuals" daily. He said the projected capacity limit for the state's hospitals is 500, lower than 800 during the delta and omicron surges due to staffing and other issues.
There were 912 new cases reported between Monday and Tuesday's update. The total for active cases was 3,071 Tuesday, down from 3,159 the previous day.
Active cases in local counties Tuesday (Monday) were: Calhoun, 8 (8); Doddridge, 9 (9); Gilmer, 7 (5); Jackson, 40 (36); Pleasants, 8 (5); Ritchie, 10 (11); Roane, 27 (22); Tyler, 7 (9); Wetzel, 22 (22); Wirt, 6 (8); and Wood, 179 (173).
Most of the state remained yellow on the County Alert System map. Forty-five counties were that color, the second-lowest level of spread based on the numbers slot of new cases per 100,000 people over the previous seven days or percentage of tests coming back positive in the same period, whichever is lower.
Locally, Jackson and Pleasants counties were green, the lowest level. Mercer and Webster counties remained gold, the middle of the spectrum.