As deaths climb, groups call for nursing home, assisted staff and residents to be first for vaccines

In the week ending Wednesday, there were 10 deaths reported in North Central West Virginia counties, including five in Harrison County for an overall total of 24, four in Preston County for an overall total of 12, and one in Marion County for an overall total of eight.

Harrison County leads the region in the number of deaths from COVID-19.

Taylor County has reported nine, Monongalia County has reported seven, Barbour and Upshur counties have reported four each, Doddridge County has reported three and Lewis County has reported two.

Kanawha County leads the state with a total of 148 deaths.

Approximately 47% of deaths in West Virginia are from nursing homes and assisted living facilities, according to Adjunct Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard.

On Friday, the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living sent a letter to governors across the nation urging prioritization of early vaccines to long-term care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living communities.

“A one-month delay in administering the vaccine at long- term care facilities could cost more than 10,000 residents their lives,” the organizations wrote in the letter.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued non-binding recommendations for states to prioritize health-care workers and long-term care facilities in early distribution of the vaccine.

“Even if one or more vaccine candidates receive authorization for emergency use, demand for COVID-19 vaccine is expected to exceed supply during the first months of the national vaccination program,” the report states.

In the United States, there are approximately 21 million health-care personnel, and about 3 million people live in long-term care facilities, according to the committee’s report.

Depending on the early supply, the committee advised consideration of sub-prioritization of health-care workers whose duties bring them within six feet of others and to residents and health-care personnel in skilled nursing facilities.

According to West Virginia DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch, there are somewhere between 15,000 and 16,000 staff in nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state.

According to the DHHR Health Facility Licensure and Certification Office, there are 123 nursing homes in West Virginia with a total of 10,803 beds.

There are around 93 assisted living facilities in the state, according to the Health Facility Licensure and Certification Office.

West Virginia COVID-19 czar Dr. Clay Marsh indicated long- term care residents are likely to be one of the highest priorities in the state.

“We will take their advice and be consistent, I think, when we roll out that prioritization plan ... particularly the hospital emergency departments, ICUs and COVID-19 units and the people at the highest risk of dying — the residents of nursing homes and assisted living,” Marsh said.

In other COVID-19 news:

— All but six West Virginia counties had infection rates in the red, and the remaining six were in orange.

Just 11 counties were red on the state’s County Alert map, however, based on the percentages of positive tests. The red counties included Barbour County in North Central West Virginia, which had a rolling seven-day average infection rate of 76.46 cases per 100,000 population and a seven-day average percentage of positive tests of 8.89%, according to DHHR.

Preston County was in orange on the map; Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor counties were gold; Marion, Upshur and Monongalia were yellow; and Lewis County was green.

— There were 1,120 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the state, for 51,025 total cases. A record 17,428 cases are still active.

— West Virginia’s daily percentage of positive tests reported Thursday was 6.94%. It was the fourth day in a row the state reported a positive daily test percentage of more than 6%.

The cumulative percentage was 3.73%, up from 3.69% reported Wednesday.

— There were 624 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state, including 169 in intensive care and 89 on ventilators. All three hospitalization numbers represent all-time highs for the state.

— CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (473), Berkeley (3,551), Boone (690), Braxton (132), Brooke (737), Cabell (3,119), Calhoun (82), Clay (132), Doddridge (130), Fayette (1,203), Gilmer (214), Grant (418), Greenbrier (571), Hampshire (381), Hancock (825), Hardy (339), Harrison (1,563), Jackson (724), Jefferson (1,471), Kanawha (5,931), Lewis (259), Lincoln (447), Logan (1,100), Marion (969), Marshall (1,329), Mason (558), McDowell (641), Mercer (1,401), Mineral (1,415), Mingo (1,008), Monongalia (3,459), Monroe (390), Morgan (310), Nicholas (389), Ohio (1,693), Pendleton (115), Pleasants (111), Pocahontas (235), Preston (706), Putnam (2,095), Raleigh (1,703), Randolph (762), Ritchie (186), Roane (194), Summers (282), Taylor (375), Tucker (159), Tyler (156), Upshur (534), Wayne (1,096), Webster (70), Wetzel (445), Wirt (127), Wood (2,823), Wyoming (797).