The number of coronavirus-related deaths continues to rise in West Virginia. The Department of Health and Human Resources announced on Thursday, September 3, that seven more residents have succumbed to the disease, bringing the state’s confirmed death-total to 237.
“We grieve, together with their families, the tragic loss of these West Virginians,” Cabinet Secretary Bill. J. Crouch stated in a message posted on the DHHR website. 3,506 COVID-19 tests were performed across the state on Wednesday, with 203 new cases identified in the last 24-hours. In total, West Virginia has now tested 444,902 residents, yielding 10,845 confirmed positives; 2,266 of which are currently active.
While the cumulative positivity-rate has seen very little movement, (0.03% since Wednesday) the daily rate continues to climb. Having now reached 5.75%, the rate is closer to the national average than it has been since the onset of the pandemic. However while the national daily-rate has been steadily going down, West Virginia’s positive-percentage continues to go up. The COVID-19 Tracking Project being conducted by Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center reports the national daily-rate has dipped to 5.99%, which is the lowest it has been in several months.
Of the seven reported deaths on Wednesday, four were residents of Kanawha County. Among the confirmed deceased were three females, ages 60, 64, and 92, as well as an 86-year old male. There was also a 95-year old female from Mercer County, a 95-year old male from Randolph County and a 71-year old female from Lincoln County.
Despite recent trends, West Virginia remains in a significantly better position than most surrounding states. According to the DHHR, West Virginia’s case-fatality rate presently stands at 2.113%. This is well below the national rate of 2.972%. Of all W.Va border states, only Kentucky’s 1.928% is lower. In percentage of the population having tested positive, at 0.591%, W.Va. is well below all border states, as well as the national rate of 1.793%. At 2.40%, West Virginia is lowest in the percentage of tests returning a positive result. And with regard to the percentage of total population tested, W.Va. leads the way at 24.684%.
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