This post is made possible by Fosters Marketing Group, a Buckhannon-based business that offers several affordable services — such as air duct cleaning, mold and mildew stain removal, pressure washing, paving and more — for both residential and commercial customers. Call them at 1-800-633-9266 or check out the Baceria Busters website.

West Virginia tops 75,000 COVID-19 cases as virus continues to surge locally

Brian Bergstrom
December 23, 2020

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Wednesday that 1,199 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Mountain State.

Locally, new cases were reported in Upshur (17), Barbour (6), Lewis (12) and Randolph (21) counties. A total of 116 cases are currently active in Upshur County, according to the DHHR.

Wednesday’s update:

Added 14 probable and 10 confirmed cases to Dec. 22
Removed nine probable cases and added two confirmed case to Dec. 21
Removed one probable and one confirmed case from Dec. 16

Upshur County remains red on the daily alert map, as is more than half the state. The daily percent positive Wednesday was 11.51% in West Virginia, and the Mountain State ranks among the worst five nationally for the current rate of spread of the virus.

Twenty-three additional deaths have been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR:

a 74-year old female from Hampshire County,
an 80-year old male from Cabell County,
a 71-year old female from Morgan County,
an 80-year old male from Wood County,
a 61-year old male from Mason County,
an 84-year old female from Hancock County,
a 69-year old female from Mineral County,
a 61-year old female from Kanawha County,
a 97-year old female from Ritchie County,
a 61-year old female from Marshall County,
a 99-year old female from Greenbrier County,
a 78-year old male from Mineral County,
a 74-year old male from Mineral County,
a 78-year old male from Kanawha County,
a 91-year old female from Raleigh County,
a 67-year old male from Marshall County,
a 78-year old male from Clay County,
a 69-year old female from Kanawha County,
an 81-year old female from Putnam County,
a 71-year old female from Taylor County,
a 91-year old male from Cabell County,
an 82-year old male from Monongalia County,
a 97-year old female from Jackson County.

“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of December 23, 2020, there have been 1,410,382 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 75,936 total cases and 1,194 deaths,” according to a press release.

About 22,826 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 51,916 people have recovered and 1,194 have died. The daily percent positive was 11.51%.

CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (630), Berkeley (5,460), Boone (957), Braxton (240), Brooke (1,226), Cabell (4,683), Calhoun (117), Clay (239), Doddridge (216), Fayette (1,562), Gilmer (319), Grant (690), Greenbrier (1,221), Hampshire (844), Hancock (1,631), Hardy (677), Harrison (2,545), Jackson (1,038), Jefferson (2,131), Kanawha (7,984), Lewis (433), Lincoln (678), Logan (1,483), Marion (1,528), Marshall (1,810), Mason (920), McDowell (856), Mercer (2,353), Mineral (2,023), Mingo (1,289), Monongalia (4,826), Monroe (565), Morgan (560), Nicholas (584), Ohio (2,305), Pendleton (241), Pleasants (317), Pocahontas (327), Preston (1,407), Putnam (2,743), Raleigh (2,434), Randolph (1,028), Ritchie (301), Roane (268), Summers (375), Taylor (609), Tucker (280), Tyler (293), Upshur (756), Wayne (1,555), Webster (121), Wetzel (616), Wirt (188), Wood (4,391), Wyoming (1,063).