COVID-19 cases skyrocket Wednesday in Upshur County and across West Virginia

Brian Bergstrom
November 11, 2020

The spread of COVID-19 in West Virginia continued to surge on Wednesday, with the Department of Health and Human Resources reporting 885 new cases.

The Upshur-Buckhannon Health Department reported 30 new cases Tuesday afternoon, increasing the county total to 344, but the DHHR included only 16 of those in their Wednesday morning update. The remainder will likely be added tomorrow.

Lewis (10), Barbour (10) and Randolph (11) counties also reported new cases Wednesday.

To put the rise in cases in perspective, in one day Upshur County reported more new cases than the county saw over the entire first four months of the pandemic.

Upshur County’s infection rate is now red, but the map color remains yellow because the bulk of the new cases are rapid tests, which the state considers positive but excludes from the map positivity calculation. A total of 76 cases are active locally, according to the health department.

The latest surge comes less than two weeks after Halloween, which saw large crowds gather in some parts of the state.

Seven additional deaths have been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR – a 71-year old male from Cabell County, a 67-year old female from Mingo County, a 70-year old female from Cabell County, an 84-year old female from Cabell County, a 41-year old male from Raleigh County, an 80-year old male from Wyoming County, and a 71-year old female from Kanawha County.

West Virginia has reported nearly 100 deaths from COVID-19 already in November, and hospitalizations are nearly double what they were a month ago.

The state is now above the level Gov. Jim Justice had previously set for taking additional actions to lessen the spread of the virus. But he indicated this week that he would continue to wait before acting, while other states have begun to reimplement measures such as limits on large gatherings.

“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 10 a.m., November 11, 2020, there have been 871,867 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 30,201 total cases and 553 deaths,” according to a press release.

About 7,771 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 21,887 people have recovered and 553 have died. The daily percent positive was 5.9%.

CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (243), Berkeley (2026), Boone (474), Braxton (92), Brooke (318), Cabell (1908), Calhoun (41), Clay (81), Doddridge (83), Fayette (879), Gilmer (166), Grant (218), Greenbrier (272), Hampshire (188), Hancock (306), Hardy (136), Harrison (811), Jackson (478), Jefferson (800), Kanawha (4324), Lewis (178), Lincoln (322), Logan (864), Marion (512), Marshall (634), Mason (214), McDowell (186), Mercer (951), Mineral (426), Mingo (786), Monongalia (2595), Monroe (284), Morgan (185), Nicholas (230), Ohio (863), Pendleton (80), Pleasants (49), Pocahontas (77), Preston (287), Putnam (1241), Raleigh (1016), Randolph (511), Ritchie (77), Roane (125), Summers (184), Taylor (196), Tucker (71), Tyler (94), Upshur (330), Wayne (713), Webster (43), Wetzel (281), Wirt (61), Wood (1233), Wyoming (458).