CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — West Virginia is easing many of its COVID-19 restrictions as data ranging from daily deaths to hospitalizations to percentage of positive tests seem to indicate mitigation efforts are slowing the virus’s spread.
Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that he was allowing bars and restaurants to increase capacity to 75%, while retail and grocery stores can double the number of patrons they allow inside.
On Saturday, the state’s COVID-19 numbers continued to decline, as officials reported six new deaths, 309 new cases, 9,136 active cases and 292 hospitalizations.
The state’s cumulative positive test rate is 5.52%, while its daily rate is 2.96%.
However, reports late Friday that the state had detected three cases involving the UK variant of COVID-19 has caused concern.
West Virginia University confirmed that three cases of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 have been detected in the Morgantown area — and two are WVU students.
Genetic sequencing of samples from the WVU Medicine testing program detected the B.1.1.7 variant in Morgantown campus test samples analyzed this week.
The university is working closely with the Monongalia County Health Department in its case investigation and contact tracing.
It is believed that the three individuals who have tested positive for the variant are related to one another and have not visited the WVU campus during their infectious period.
“While this is not unexpected, it reinforces why it is so important to protect yourself and others by continuing to wear a mask when you are in public spaces and around others you do not live with, wash your hands frequently and carefully self-monitor for symptoms,” said Dr. Jeffrey Coben, WVU vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Public Health.
That message was also emphasized by State Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad.
“While the presence of this COVID-19 variant in West Virginia is not surprising, it’s a good motivator for us to double down on the prevention efforts we’ve had in place for many months now,” Amjad said.
“Now that we have this confirmation, as Governor Justice always says, ‘It’s not time to be fearful; it’s time to be smart.’ All West Virginians should continue hand washing, social distancing, proper mask wearing, testing, and everyone should get vaccinated when it’s their turn.”
The DHHR on Saturday confirmed the deaths of an 83-year-old female from Mercer County, a 61-year-old female from Raleigh County, an 88-year-old female from Cabell County, a 75-year-old male from Gilmer County, an 87-year-old female from Logan County and a 60-year-old male from Fayette County.
“Every life lost to this deadly virus leaves a hole in a family, a community and our state,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR secretary. “I offer my deepest sympathies to all who are mourning a loved one today.”
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,166), Berkeley (9,551), Boone (1,541), Braxton (769), Brooke (1,990), Cabell (7,679), Calhoun (219), Clay (370), Doddridge (464), Fayette (2,596), Gilmer (701), Grant (1,047), Greenbrier (2,371), Hampshire (1,495), Hancock (2,570), Hardy (1,258), Harrison (4,795), Jackson (1,639), Jefferson (3,561), Kanawha (11,836), Lewis (1,014), Lincoln (1,205), Logan (2,651), Marion (3,605), Marshall (2,970), Mason (1,753), McDowell (1,335), Mercer (4,150), Mineral (2,570), Mingo (2,087), Monongalia (7,739), Monroe (931), Morgan (910), Nicholas (1,156), Ohio (3,578), Pendleton (617), Pleasants (794), Pocahontas (581), Preston (2,505), Putnam (4,124), Raleigh (4,579), Randolph (2,362), Ritchie (606), Roane (488), Summers (696), Taylor (1,072), Tucker (495), Tyler (609), Upshur (1,651), Wayne (2,578), Webster (290), Wetzel (1,062), Wirt (341), Wood (6,925), Wyoming (1,717).
West Virginians may now pre-register for their COVID-19 vaccination at vaccinate.wv.gov. The COVID-19 dashboard located at www.coronavirus.wv.gov shows the total number of vaccines administered. See the vaccine summary tab for more detailed information.
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How many deaths from the flu this year? It seems there weren't any.. wow
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