50 new cases of COVID-19, two additional deaths reported in West Virginia on Saturday

Brian Bergstrom
April 18, 2020

The number of new COVID-19 cases jumped by 50 on Saturday, the fifth-worst day since the first confirmed case was identified in West Virginia one month ago.

Two more deaths were also reported in the Mountain State, an 83-year old man and an 88-year old woman from Jackson County, both affiliated with a nursing home.

“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 5 p.m., on April 18, 2020, there have been 19,794 laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 825 positive, 18,969 negative and 18 deaths,” the DHHR said in a press release.

The rate of infection continues to increase in the state; the 50 new cases Saturday came from 706 tests, a positive rate of more than 7 percent. The average infection rate of the past week is 6.6 percent, nearly double what the state was reporting over the first three weeks of testing.

Upshur County remains at four confirmed cases, according to the DHHR. A total of 30 of the 50 new cases Saturday were identified in Jackson County.

New cases were reported in Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Mason, Monongalia, Monroe, Preston and Wayne counties.

CONFIRMED CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (4), Berkeley (107), Boone (2), Braxton (1), Brooke (3), Cabell (30), Fayette (4), Grant (1), Greenbrier (3), Hampshire (6), Hancock (7), Hardy (3), Harrison (29), Jackson (70), Jefferson (60), Kanawha (111), Lewis (2), Lincoln (1), Logan (8), Marion (42), Marshall (8), Mason (11), McDowell (6), Mercer (8), Mineral (8), Mingo (2), Monongalia (84), Monroe (4), Morgan (8), Nicholas (3), Ohio (22), Pendleton (2), Pleasants (1), Preston (10), Putnam (14), Raleigh (7), Randolph (4), Roane (2), Summers (1), Taylor (5), Tucker (4), Tyler (3), Upshur (4), Wayne (75), Wetzel (3), Wirt (2), Wood (29), Wyoming (1).

More than 500 of the West Virginia cases remain active, with 265 recoveries and 18 deaths, according to the DHHR.

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