Trending
CHARLESTON -- Active COVID-19 cases in West Virginia increased almost 400 from Thursday to Friday morning, the Department of Health and Human Resources reported Friday.
The department reported 3,414 active cases statewide, up from 3,036 reported on Thursday morning in the department's daily pandemic update. The department also reported receiving 1,012 new cases in the 24-hour period between Thursday and Friday morning.
Locally, active cases increased by 36 in Wood County between Thursday and Friday. The department reported 234 cases in Wood County on Friday, up from from 198 on Thursday.
Current active cases in other local counties (previous day) are: Calhoun, 8 (8); Doddridge, 8 (8); Gilmer, 10 (9); Jackson, 56 (41); Pleasants, 8 (7); Ritchie, 15 (13); Roane, 41 (37); Tyler, 14 (13); Wetzel, 19 (13); and Wirt, 10 (9).
Most of the active cases in West Virginia are in Kanawha County where there are 288, followed by Wood, Raleigh with 213, Berkeley with 180, Mercer with 152 and Monongalia with 134.
Hospitalizations increased by 20 between Thursday and Friday, to 361 patients, 199 unvaccinated, on Friday. Sixty-four patients are in an intensive care unit, 43 unvaccinated, and 19 are on a ventilator, eight unvaccinated.
Sixteen pediatric patients with eight in an ICU were reported.
Hospitalizations peaked at around 1,100 in January and February.
Twenty-five COVID patients are in WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center. The high in the last five days was 27 on Thursday and the low was 21 on Wednesday.
Eleven deaths were reported since Thursday's update, raising the death count attributed to COVID-19 since the pandemic began to 7,184 residents.
The deaths included an 85-year-old man from Jackson County, a 90-year-old man from Putnam County, an 89-year-old man from Upshur County, a 64-year-old woman from Upshur County, an 85-year-old man from Putnam County, a 96-year-old woman from Cabell County, an 80-year-old woman from Cabell County, a 91-year-old woman from Cabell County, a 93-year-old woman from Cabell County, an 82-year-old woman from Greenbrier County and a 74-year-old woman from Mingo County.
"Summer is a time for family reunions and celebrations, and it is painful to report that many families are experiencing the deepest grief today," department Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. "I urge each West Virginian to make the choice to be up-to-date with COVID vaccines and boosters to help stop this loss of life."
Six counties are now gold, mid-level, on the County Alert System Map: Hardy, Monroe, Raleigh, Wyoming, McDowell, Logan and Mingo.
Eight counties are green, lowest level of infection rates. Wetzel and Pleasants counties in this region are green.
All other counties in the state are yellow.
Updated on Fridays, 311 staff and 369 residents of long-term-care facilities are infected, the department said. Locally: 26 residents and 12 staff at the Glenville Center; one resident an one staff at the Mountain View Care Center in Jackson County; one staff at the Ravenswood Village; four residents and one staff at Stonerise Belmont in Pleasants County; six residents and one staff at Roane General Hospital; 13 residents and 12 staff at New Martinsville Center; two residents and four staff at Parkersburg Center; two residents and five staff at Stonerise Parkersburg; one resident and two staff at Willows Center; and one staff at Worthington healthcare Center.
Fifty-four staff and 68 inmates were COVID-19 positive, the Division of Corrections said. Seventeen inmates are at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County and two inmates are at the St. Marys Correctional Center.
Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommended masks in indoor public places throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley, with the exception of Wetzel County. It was rated "medium" on the CDC's COVID-19 community levels metric, based on having less than 200 new cases per 100,000 people in the previous seven days.
All other counties in the region were classified as "high" in the levels, which are updated every Thursday. Each had more than 200 new cases per 100,000 people and all but Tyler also reporterd more than 20 admissions per 100,000 people of patients to hospitals with COVID-19 in the past week, although many count from the same regional pool of beds.