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Two Jackson County residents among West Virginia COVID deaths

CHARLESTON — Two Jackson County residents were among 14 people whose deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in the latest update from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

The agency announced Monday it had confirmed the deaths of two women, ages 83 and 94, from Jackson County, along with other West Virginians ranging in age from a 54-year-old Kanawha County man to a 96-year-old Marion County man. That brings the state’s death toll attributed to the virus to 7,396.

“COVID-19 has affected far too many West Virginians,” said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch. “I urge you to utilize the vaccine calculator to help determine when you should receive your COVID-19 vaccine and omicron booster.”

The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department announced Monday it has received doses of the Moderna bivalent booster vaccine, a mix of the original vaccine and protection against recent omicron variants.

The Moderna shots are for ages 18 and older. All individuals should receive their primary COVID vaccine series before getting the bivalent booster, the department said in a press release. If an individual has received another COVID booster, the new one should not be administered until at least two months after that.

Everyone is recommended to visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Due Date Calculator, located on DHHR’s COVID website as well as on movhd.com, to see when they are eligible for the bivalent booster and visit vaccines.gov/search to find out what locations have the Moderna or Pfizer bivalent.

To make an appointment to get the bivalent booster at a Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department location, call 304-485-7374.

The DHHR reported 1,402 active COVID-19 cases across the state on Monday morning, down from 1,726 Friday.

Active cases in local counties on Monday (Friday) were: Calhoun, 1 (4); Doddridge, 2 (3); Gilmer, 1 (5); Jackson, 12 (20); Pleasants, 13 (1); Ritchie, 4 (4); Roane, 11 (16); Tyler, 1 (8); Wetzel, 11 (11); Wirt, 2 (2); and Wood, 54 (58).

The jump in Pleasants County’s numbers may contributed to it being labeled gold on the County Alert System map Monday. That’s the middle level of a five-tiered scale based on the number of new cases per 100,000 people and percentage of positive tests in the previous seven days. The lower of the two metrics determines a county’s color. Pleasants County’s percentage of positive tests actually qualified for orange, the second-highest level, but its infection rate made it the only gold county in the state.

All other area counties were green, the lowest level, as were a total of 35 counties around the state. Nineteen counties were yellow, the second lowest.

There were 250 patients with COVID-19 in West Virginia hospitals Monday, compared to 278 Friday. Forty-five were in intensive care units and 15 were on ventilators. There were three pediatric hospitalizations reported.

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