CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There were only 15 West Virginia counties denoted as ‘red’ on Wednesday’s COVID-19 alert map released by the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
That’s the lowest number of ‘red’ counties in weeks. The counties moving down to lower levels of coronavirus spread are doing so mainly because their daily percent positivity test rates have decreased. All 55 counties have at least one red metric, most associated with infection rate which is calculated based on population.
There are 31 counties in the ‘orange’ position, three in ‘gold,’ five in ‘yellow’ and one, McDowell, in ‘green.’
The state confirmed 857 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. The daily positivity test rate is 7.7% West Virginia continues to have the lowest estimated rate of virus spread, Rt Value, in the nation at .85.
The DHHR reported 21 additional deaths Wednesday including a 92-year old male from Fayette County, a 46-year old male from Raleigh County, a 78-year old male from Pleasants County, an 82-year old male from Wood County, an 86-year old female from Wyoming County, a 55-year old female from Mercer County, a 72-year old male from Mercer County, an 85-year old female from Jackson County, a 75-year old female from Berkeley County, a 79-year old male from Raleigh County, a 90-year old male from Putnam County, a 59-year old male from Cabell County, an 87-year old male from Mercer County, a 92-year old male from Harrison County, a 92-year old male from Fayette County, an 81-year old male from Mercer County, a 71-year old female from Fayette County, an 89-year old female from Mercer County, an 88-year old male from Preston County, an 81-year old male from Upshur County, and a 65-year old male from Marion County.
“We take the reporting of these deaths very seriously,” state DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch in a statement. “As we extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones, we also encourage all West Virginians to recognize the continued need to take every possible step to slow the spread of this disease.”
Hospitalizations did increase slightly in Wednesday’s report. There are now 655 COVID-19 patients across West Virginia, 17 more than Tuesday’s report.
The DHHR report also covers the latest on the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
DHHR reports as of January 20, 2021, there have been 1,784,787 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 111,677 total cases and 1,836 total deaths. https://t.co/GNsJvpkXCw pic.twitter.com/wi8fi7TVBU
— WV Department of Health & Human Resources • ? (@WV_DHHR) January 20, 2021
Overall confirmed cases per county include:
Barbour (1,018), Berkeley (8,227), Boone (1,315), Braxton (694), Brooke (1,801), Cabell (6,556), Calhoun (191), Clay (306), Doddridge (369), Fayette (2,204), Gilmer (539), Grant (932), Greenbrier (2,083), Hampshire (1,257), Hancock (2,344), Hardy (1,107), Harrison (4,114), Jackson (1,510), Jefferson (3,059), Kanawha (10,439), Lewis (737), Lincoln (1,054), Logan (2,160), Marion (2,977), Marshall (2,593), Mason (1,405), McDowell (1,145), Mercer (3,737), Mineral (2,331), Mingo (1,795), Monongalia (6,574), Monroe (834), Morgan (830), Nicholas (957), Ohio (3,154), Pendleton (492), Pleasants (732), Pocahontas (521), Preston (2,266), Putnam (3,578), Raleigh (3,769), Randolph (2,008), Ritchie (508), Roane (410), Summers (641), Taylor (920), Tucker (422), Tyler (515), Upshur (1,307), Wayne (2,149), Webster (223), Wetzel (924), Wirt (303), Wood (6,192), Wyoming (1,449).