The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has identified 3,602 new cases and recorded 74 COVID-19-related deaths within the last 72 hours.
Among those confirmed deceased are an 86-year-old Greenbrier County woman, an 86-year-old Monongalia County woman, a 73-year-old Marion County man, a 90-year-old Mercer County woman, an 87-year-old Mercer County woman, a 67-year-old Upshur County man, a 92-year-old Ohio County man, a 72-year-old Pleasants County man, a 93-year-old Wood County woman, a 94-year-old Cabell County woman, a 78-year-old Gilmer County woman, a 90-year-old Wood County woman, a 47-year-old Raleigh County woman, a 91-year-old Wood County woman, a 72-year-old Wood County man, a 72-year-old Wetzel County man, an 81-year-old Berkeley County man, a 77-year-old Lewis County woman, a 95-year-old Ohio County woman, an 89-year-old Wood County man, a 95-year-old Cabell County man, a 78-year-old Kanawha County man, am 82-year-old Tucker County man, a 98-year-old Wood County woman, a 71-year-old Logan County man, a 93-year-old Greenbrier County woman, an 84-year-old Kanawha County woman, an 88-year-old Pleasants County man, a 52-year-old Marion County man, an 80-year-old Putnam County man, an 80-year-old Putnam County woman, a 66-year-old Summers County man, a 78-year-old Tucker County man, a 76-year-old Hancock County woman, an 89-year-old Hancock County woman, a 65-year-old Hancock County man; 67-year-old Kanawha County woman, a 90-year-old Hancock County woman, an 82-year-old Jackson County man, a 79-year-old Upshur County woman, a 56-year-old Barbour County woman, a 72-year-old Cabell County man, a 92-year-old Mercer County man, a 74-year-old Harrison County woman, a 93-year-old Hancock County man, an 86-year-old Fayette County woman, a 93-year-old Ohio County woman, an 84-year-old Ohio County woman, an 83-year-old Doddridge County woman, an 80-year-old Kanawha County man, an 85-year-old Wayne County woman, an 88-year-old Sood County woman, a 56-year-old Cabell County man, a 72-year-old Marshall County man, a 73-year-old Wood County man, a 75-year-old Berkeley County woman, a 70-year-old Wood County woman, a 96-year-old Ohio County woman, a 62-year-old Raleigh County man, an 88-year-old Hardy County woman, a 73-year-old Upshur County man, an 84-year-old Lewis County man, a 79-year-old Fayette County woman, an 81-year-old Brooke County man, a 95-year-old Hardy County man, an 89-year-old Brooke County woman, a 92-year-old Monongalia County woman and an 85-year-old Marshall County man, .
In a statement posted on W.Va. DHHR’s website on Saturday, Jan. 16, Cabinet Secretary Bill Crouch said, “The toll this virus has taken on our state also weighs heavily on our medical providers. As we remember each life and each family, we also remember those fighting to save them.”
The death toll in West Virginia due to complications stemming from COVID-19 has now reached 1,776.
There are currently 26,858 active cases of the virus in West Virginia. A total of 7,415 laboratory COVID-19 tests were performed on Saturday, January 16, yielding a daily positivity-rate of 5.07%. The state’s cumulative positivity-rate is 5.48%. 48,579 laboratory tests were performed between Jan. 14 and Jan.15, bringing the state’s seven-day testing average to 14,825.
The vaccination effort continues across West Virginia. During his Friday, January coronavirus response media-briefing, Governor Jim Justice announced that the state’s 93.7% first-dose vaccination rate leads the nation.
“West Virginia continues to lead the nation, but that’s not good enough for us,” Justice said. “While everybody else is trying to figure out a system or standing around, twiddling their thumbs, West Virginia is not only leading the nation, we want to lap the field. The bottom line to what is happening in West Virginia right now is just simply this: when we get the vaccines in on Monday, come Sunday nightfall we’re trying, with all in us, to not have one single vaccine on the shelf.”
While West Virginia may, in fact, lead the nation in first-dose vaccination rate, that percentage is per capita. The percentage translates to 130,153 West Virginians who have now received the first round of the vaccination. Thus far, 27 states have administered the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine to more residents than West Virginia. And of the 21 states which have administered less of the vaccine, only nine have received a larger allocation from the federal government.
As of Sunday, Jan. 17, 23,066 West Virginians, out of a population of just over 1.8 million, have been fully vaccinated.
The Greenbrier County Health Department is in the process of establishing a “dedicated hotline” for residents to add their names to the COVID-19 vaccine waiting list.
In a social media post dated Friday, Jan. 15, county health officials said, “Please do not call the health department to leave a message or use the email address previously provided. Names emailed after 7 p.m. today (Friday) will not be added to the waiting list. Please note: the current waiting list is over 1,000 names and we do not want to miss anyone. The hotline will be the dedicated line for calls to ensure no one is missed. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and inability to get through to the Health Department due to our current high call volume. The hotline will make scheduling a much simpler process. Thank you for understanding as we are working very hard to make sure everyone is taken care of.”
In Greenbrier County, current outbreaks have been reported at the Greenbrier Health Care Center, the Lewisburg Center (Stonerise Lewisburg) and Meadow Garden (Stonerise Rainelle). In Monroe County, an active outbreak has been reported at the Springfield Center (Stonerise Lindside).
At present, 648 West Virginians are hospitalized with COVID-19, 178 of whom are being cared for in the ICU, with 89 receiving assistance through ventilators. W.Va. DHHR reports that 80,187 residents previously infected with the virus have now recovered.
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