With schools cleared to reopen, Upshur County reports 10 new COVID-19 cases Sunday

Brian Bergstrom
November 8, 2020

Just hours after Upshur County learned schools are set to reopen for the first time in six weeks, the county reported the largest daily increase in new cases in nearly two weeks.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Sunday that 662 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Mountain State, another record daily increase.

Locally, new cases were reported in Upshur (10), Lewis (17) and Barbour (3) counties.

One additional death has been attributed to the disease, according to the DHHR – an 83-year old male from Kanawha County. The DHHR said one death reported Saturday was a duplicate, so the total number of deaths stood at 502 Sunday.

In Upshur County, Sunday’s update added two probable cases to Nov. 6, as well as three probable and seven confirmed cases to Nov. 7. It’s unclear why the total number of cases only increased by 10; DHHR data only dates back seven days, so it’s possible cases were removed prior to that.

Upshur remains yellow on the daily alert map due to the percentage of tests which are positive, although the actual infection rate ticked up sharply and remains orange. The total number of active cases increased to 51.

“The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports as of 10 a.m., November 8, 2020, there have been 846,772 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 28,404 total cases and 502 deaths,” according to a press release.

The state is now averaging more than 500 new cases per day, with 3,521 cases reported in just the last week. Hospitalizations have also increased sharply and are now nearly double what they were in October.

About 6,870 West Virginia cases remain active, according DHHR data. Of the cases that are no longer active, 21,032 people have recovered and 502 have died. The daily percent positive was 4.32%.

CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (220), Berkeley (1921), Boone (454), Braxton (89), Brooke (291), Cabell (1830), Calhoun (38), Clay (75), Doddridge (78), Fayette (847), Gilmer (117), Grant (211), Greenbrier (252), Hampshire (175), Hancock (277), Hardy (119), Harrison (757), Jackson (459), Jefferson (748), Kanawha (4162), Lewis (155), Lincoln (304), Logan (837), Marion (492), Marshall (571), Mason (199), McDowell (176), Mercer (912), Mineral (344), Mingo (740), Monongalia (2513), Monroe (279), Morgan (185), Nicholas (215), Ohio (786), Pendleton (80), Pleasants (45), Pocahontas (77), Preston (272), Putnam (1143), Raleigh (978), Randolph (480), Ritchie (71), Roane (120), Summers (173), Taylor (183), Tucker (69), Tyler (81), Upshur (310), Wayne (682), Webster (42), Wetzel (270), Wirt (59), Wood (1013), Wyoming (428).