All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Upshur County’s infection rate worsens with 9 new cases Sunday, but county goes ‘green’

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Sunday that 867 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Mountain State, including nine in Upshur County.

Nine additional deaths have been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR – a 73-year old male from Wood County, an 87-year old female from Marshall County, an 83-year old female from Putnam County, a 95-year old female from Ohio County, a 74-year old female from Ohio County, an 84-year old female from Putnam County, a 94-year old female from Putnam County, an 88-year old female from Jackson County, and a 78-year old male from Kanawha County.

At least 125 West Virginians have died from COVID-19 through the first half of November, according to the DHHR.

The number of active cases (9,800) and hospitalizations (365) also hit record highs on Sunday.

In Upshur County, Sunday’s report:

  • Removed a probable case from Nov. 12
  • Added a probable case to Nov. 13
  • Added three probable and six confirmed cases to Nov. 14

Even as the county’s actual infection rate sunk deeper into the red zone, Upshur County’s color on the daily map actually improved to green due to positivity percentage supposedly indicated minimal community transmission.

The upgrade in color is not due to increased testing, but rather due to the fact that the state is simply not counting more than half the cases. In the last seven days, Upshur County has reported 27 probable cases and 26 confirmed cases. The DHHR only includes the latter in the map positivity rating.

Theoretically, the probable cases will eventually be followed by a confirmation test. But in the last week, the lag between rapid test and confirmation test has slowed dramatically.

A total of 71 cases are currently active in Upshur County, according to the DHHR.

Other local cases were reported in Barbour (5), Lewis (5), Randolph (12) and Webster (3) counties.

“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 10 a.m., November 15, 2020, there have been 922,920 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 33,659 total cases and 582 deaths,” according to a press release.

About 9,800 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 23,227 people have recovered and 582 have died. The daily percent positive was 5.9%.

CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (263), Berkeley (2209), Boone (505), Braxton (94), Brooke (377), Cabell (2162), Calhoun (43), Clay (94), Doddridge (87), Fayette (950), Gilmer (175), Grant (235), Greenbrier (308), Hampshire (206), Hancock (366), Hardy (150), Harrison (872), Jackson (538), Jefferson (947), Kanawha (4652), Lewis (197), Lincoln (342), Logan (919), Marion (585), Marshall (790), Mason (251), McDowell (292), Mercer (1045), Mineral (590), Mingo (831), Monongalia (2754), Monroe (290), Morgan (206), Nicholas (255), Ohio (997), Pendleton (84), Pleasants (55), Pocahontas (81), Preston (337), Putnam (1377), Raleigh (1110), Randolph (547), Ritchie (92), Roane (132), Summers (201), Taylor (218), Tucker (75), Tyler (106), Upshur (359), Wayne (795), Webster (47), Wetzel (319), Wirt (66), Wood (1565), Wyoming (516).

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