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COVID deaths pass 8K in West Virginia

From left, James Hoyer and Dr. Clay Marsh speaking during the governor’s press briefing on Wednesday. (Photo Provided)

CHARLESTON — West Virginia has exceeded 8,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started three years ago, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

The department in its weekly update on Wednesday morning reported 29 confirmed deaths have been reported in the past week, raising the total number of dead to 8,005.

In anticipation of the May 11 expiration of the federal public health emergency, the department releases pandemic updates once a week on Wednesday morning.

The 29 additional deaths reported Wednesday include an 88-year-old woman and a 73-year-old woman both from Wood County. Also among the dead are a 32-year-old man from Raleigh County and a 47-year-old woman from Mercer County.

Other deaths were a 78-year-old man from Jefferson County, an 80-year-old man from Mercer County, a 74-year-old woman from Raleigh County, a 71-year-old woman from Braxton County, an 82-year-old man from Fayette County, a 58-year-old woman from Raleigh County, a 72-year-old man from Fayette County, a 74-year-old man from Fayette County, a 78-year-old woman from Berkeley County, an 80-year-old woman from Fayette County, an 82-year old male from Berkeley County, a 76-year-old man from Putnam County, a 93-year-old man from Greenbrier County, a 75-year-old woman from Webster County, a 77-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 92-year-old woman from Fayette County, a 77-year-old woman from Berkeley County, a 57-year-old man from Cabell County, an 87-year-old man from Clay County, a 68-year-old man from Fayette County, an 81-year-old woman from Monongalia County, a 69-year-old woman from Kanawha County, a 65-year-old man from Raleigh County, a 91-year-old man from Raleigh County and a 54-year-old woman from Logan County.

All counties in the region were classified as low on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention community threat level.

Patients with COVID symptoms were 3.5% of those going to an emergency room in the past week, down from 4.5% the week before, the department said. The highest in the last year was 8.2% for the week ending July 24, 2022.

The governor’s leadership attributed to the state’s swift response to the pandemic in the last three years, according to James Hoyer, who commanded the state’s joint task force on vaccines, and Dr. Clay Marsh, COVID-19 adviser to the state, said during a pre-recorded portion of the governor’s press briefing on Wednesday.

“We have to be careful not to get too satisfied with where we have been,” Marsh said. “COVID is still a significant infectious disease.”

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