CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources recognized an eighth confirmed case of the coronavirus on Friday.
The case, the first in Kanawha County, involves an adult resident who traveled to an area with a high transmission rate.
Dr. Sherri Young, the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s health officer and executive director, said the person suspected she had the coronavirus before being tested at Charleston Area Medical Center.
“The patient is in isolation and appropriately so,” she said. “The rest of the people that are working with them at the hospital is also minimalized.”
Young said the person went out of state by vehicle, noting there was not a high transmission rate in the area at the time of the person’s visit.
She added county officials expected a COVID-19 case at some point, and the number of confirmed cases will increase as testing rises.
“We are seeing our case numbers go up rapidly,” she said.
“We absolutely need to support pause in place. We do need people to be very careful. I believe this brings an additional level of awareness of yes, this can happen in our community, but we need to band together to protect each other (and) to protect the most vulnerable populations.”
The state Department of Health and Human Resources earlier Friday confirmed cases in Jackson and Jefferson counties, noting all confirmed cases have been travel related. An Ohio resident tested positive at a Cabell County facility, but the results do not affect West Virginia’s numbers.
West Virginia health officials have reported 330 negative tests with two test results pending at the state’s public health lab.