After reporting seven new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, Upshur County has become the only county in West Virginia to be placed on red alert status on the daily map produced by the W.Va. Department of Health and Human Resources.
With schools already shuttered for the upcoming week, the spread of the virus has shown no signs of abating since the Upshur County outbreak began more than a week ago.
A total of 54 cases are currently active in Upshur County, according to the DHHR.
Little information has been released about the source of the recent wave of cases. With 20 new cases in two days, Upshur County is already approaching levels where in-person school could be canceled in future weeks as well.
Free COVID-19 testing will be available in Upshur County on Monday from noon to 6 p.m. at Buckhannon-Upshur High School.
While Upshur is the only county officially listed as red, on the original, un-tweaked version of the map, Barbour and Tucker counties are also red due to their high infection rates.
Statewide, the DHHR announced Sunday that 160 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Mountain State.
One additional death has been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR – an 81-year old female from Kanawha County.
“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 10 a.m., October 4, 2020, there have been 589,583 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 16,628 total cases and 358 deaths,” according to a press release.
New cases were reported Sunday in Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Fayette, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, McDowell, Mercer, Monongalia, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur, Wayne and Wetzel counties.
About 4,288 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 11,982 people have recovered and 358 have died. The daily percent positive was 1.97%.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (94), Berkeley (1093), Boone (254), Braxton (13), Brooke (118), Cabell (894), Calhoun (27), Clay (37), Doddridge (32), Fayette (652), Gilmer (49), Grant (163), Greenbrier (133), Hampshire (111), Hancock (154), Hardy (96), Harrison (443), Jackson (291), Jefferson (451), Kanawha (2874), Lewis (41), Lincoln (187), Logan (650), Marion (301), Marshall (185), Mason (147), McDowell (96), Mercer (438), Mineral (176), Mingo (398), Monongalia (2099), Monroe (151), Morgan (62), Nicholas (124), Ohio (383), Pendleton (53), Pleasants (18), Pocahontas (60), Preston (161), Putnam (627), Raleigh (559), Randolph (269), Ritchie (13), Roane (56), Summers (59), Taylor (143), Tucker (42), Tyler (17), Upshur (117), Wayne (420), Webster (8), Wetzel (66), Wirt (12), Wood (382), Wyoming (129).
