The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Friday that a single-day record 498 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Mountain State.
Upshur County reported a net total of seven new cases Friday, according to the DHHR. That includes five new probable cases and four new confirmations, while a probable case from Oct. 11 and a confirmed case from Oct. 14 were removed from the county results.
A total of 103 cases are active locally, according to the DHHR.
Because probable cases do not count toward the positivity metric on the daily alert map, Upshur County remained gold Friday. As those cases are retroactively confirmed, however, the county could move to orange before — or even after — the official West Virginia Department of Education map is released at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Upshur County schools have been have been closed to students the past two weeks due to the local COVID-19 outbreak.
However, the county has been a leader in testing, with free events held at Buckhannon-Upshur High School every day this week, including from noon to 4 p.m. Friday. That has helped drive the percentage of positive cases down and should limit the spread of the virus in the coming weeks as new cases are identified early.
The rate new cases in Upshur County is also falling. The county’s infection rate dropped out of the ‘red zone’ for the first time in two weeks on Friday, and Thursday’s rate was retroactively changed from red to orange.
The local school system is continuing to track cases despite being closed to students. On Thursday, Upshur County Schools reported 15 active cases between students and staff.
Statewide, three additional deaths have been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR – a 67-year old female from Mercer County, a 58-year old male from Mingo County, and a 75-year old male from Fayette County.
“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 10 a.m., October 16, 2020, there have been 666,717 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 19,580 total cases and 396 deaths,” according to a press release.
The DHHR attributed the large number of positives Friday to the state now counting results from several entities performing rapid COVID-19 testing. Those tests were not previously included in the DHHR data.
“Four testing entities were onboarded and began sending data on October 15 and that is why there was an influx in labs received,” according to a press release. “Those include MedExpress, PWNHealth/Walgreen’s, Steelfusion/RJ Group Labs, and Valley Health Link Urgent Care/Physicians Practices.”
New cases were reported Friday in Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming.
A record 4,915 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 14,269 people have recovered and 396 have died. The daily percent positive was 2.99%.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (158), Berkeley (1349), Boone (284), Braxton (31), Brooke (185), Cabell (1130), Calhoun (32), Clay (51), Doddridge (63), Fayette (705), Gilmer (61), Grant (177), Greenbrier (151), Hampshire (118), Hancock (182), Hardy (101), Harrison (616), Jackson (341), Jefferson (513), Kanawha (3249), Lewis (64), Lincoln (206), Logan (706), Marion (341), Marshall (238), Mason (157), McDowell (103), Mercer (535), Mineral (201), Mingo (490), Monongalia (2205), Monroe (184), Morgan (93), Nicholas (170), Ohio (443), Pendleton (65), Pleasants (22), Pocahontas (64), Preston (174), Putnam (767), Raleigh (638), Randolph (368), Ritchie (25), Roane (85), Summers (72), Taylor (158), Tucker (52), Tyler (24), Upshur (210), Wayne (477), Webster (17), Wetzel (78), Wirt (26), Wood (464), Wyoming (161).
