With the holidays approaching, just eight counties in West Virginia are classified as green, yellow or gold on the weekly education map. That means the remaining 47 counties must hold remote instruction if they plan to have class this week.

With doctors predicting that the worst of the pandemic is still to come, it could be several weeks — or months — before most students return to the classroom. Vaccines have begun to roll out but aren’t expected to be widely available until spring at the earliest.

West Virginia has been unable to contain the spread of COVID-19. The state was averaging about 150 cases per day when school started in September; it’s now reporting nearly 1,300 new cases every day.

Here’s the full press release:

The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) has posted the December 19, 2020, Saturday Education Map that determines which counties will hold in-person and blended instruction. The map is developed with information from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and vetted by the COVID-19 Data Review Panel.

The weekly updates are posted at https://wvde.us/reentrymetrics. County plans should be reviewed for additional requirements.

Red (Substantial Community Transmission): Counties must move to remote learning. Staff may report to their schools, as determined by the county. Essential support services, including special education and meals, will continue.

Red counties include: Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mason, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Tyler, Wayne, Wood

Orange (Heightened Community Transmission): Remote learning required. Staff may report to their schools, as determined by the county. Essential support services, including special education and meals, will continue.

Orange counties include: Barbour, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Mercer, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Taylor, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wyoming

Gold (Elevated Community Transmission): In-person instruction permitted with increased mitigations including face coverings for children grades 3 and above at all times.

Gold counties include: Calhoun, Lewis, Monroe, Tucker

Yellow (Increased Community Transmission): Counties will continue with in-person instruction. Health and safety precautions include, at a minimum, face coverings at all times for grades 3 and above.

Yellow counties include: Randolph, Roane, Summers

Green (Minimal Community Transmission): Health and safety precautions include, at a minimum, face coverings in grades 3 and above on school buses and when inside of school facilities.

Green counties include: McDowell

The COVID-19 Data Review Panel reviewed and verified the data used to inform the WVDE Saturday Education Map to ensure both accuracy and reliability. The panel considered data captured at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, December 17, 2020. As a result, there may be differences between the WVDE map and the DHHR County Alert Map.

The county color announced each Saturday will be in effect until the following Saturday with the exception of a county turning red during the course of the week. Once reviewed, that change may be made immediately to the WVDE map because all in-person instruction would be suspended.

Counties that voluntarily move into remote learning (prior to being given the color orange or red designation by the DHHR or the Data Review Panel) will be identified with red asterisks on the map.

All schools, both public and private, are expected to adhere to the WVDE Saturday Education Map. Winter sports have been suspended until January 11, 2021, by order of the Governor.