Wood County gold on West Virginia COVID map | News, Sports, Jobs

CHARLESTON — Wood County dropped to gold on West Virginia’s COVID-19 County Alert System map for the first time in months Thursday.

Gold is in the middle of the five-color scale that measures the spread of the coronavirus based on the lower of two factors — the rate of new cases per 100,000 people in a given period or percentage of tests that come back positive. Wood County has been on one of the highest levels, red or orange, since August.

The Wood County Board of Education voted Aug. 30 to require masks in schools when the alert level was at orange or red. The approved policy says the mandate could be lifted after the county is gold or lower for five consecutive days.

The drop in classification comes as active cases numbers across West Virginia decline, though trends vary for individual counties.

According to Thursday’s update from the state Department of Health and Human Resources, 11,057 active cases were reported, down from 11,491 on Wednesday and 21,717 on Jan. 22.

Active cases in Mid-Ohio Valley counties Thursday (Wednesday) were: Calhoun, 75 (70); Doddridge, 45 (44); Gilmer, 45 (30); Jackson, 65 (51); Pleasants, 27 (23); Ritchie, 59 (61); Roane, 71 (59); Tyler, 39 (35); Wetzel, 83 (91); Wirt, 22 (28); Wood, 381 (405).

In addition to Wood County, Wirt, Gilmer, Roane and Tyler also were gold on the alert map. Calhoun, Doddridge, Ritchie and Wetzel counties were orange, the second-highest level. Jackson and Pleasants County are yellow, the second-lowest category, though Jackson was green on Wednesday.

Hospitalizations remain high, with 1,061 people with COVID-19 in hospitals around the state, compared to 1,097 Wednesday. Of those hospitalized Thursday, 725 (68.3 percent) were unvaccinated.

There were 233 people in intensive care units, 79 percent of them unvaccinated, while 126 were on ventilators, 85.7 percent of those patients unvaccinated. Those statistics were relatively unchanged from Wednesday, with 235 in ICUs and 124 on ventilators.

Locally, WVU Medicine Camden Clark had 69 COVID patients Thursday, up from 66 Wednesday. Twenty-four of those patients have been vaccinated, a hospital spokesman said.

Eleven patients were in the Camden Clark ICU on Thursday, two more than Wednesday, with the number of patients on ventilators remaining at seven. Two of the ICU patients were vaccinated, as was one ventilator patient.

West Virginia’s Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that more than 60 Division of Natural Resources police officers had undergone training to fill support roles at state prisons and jails, starting as early as this weekend. Correctional facilities are facing staffing issues due to the pandemic, with active cases among 921 inmates and 231 staff members.

“There is so much honor when a law enforcement officer crosses county lines, state lines and country lines to help others in need,” said state Homeland Security Secretary Jeff Sandy, a retired career U.S. Treasury agent. “I thank and commend (Col. Bobby Cales, DNR law enforcement section chief) for crossing the fence line to assist DCR in providing security in our time of need.”

The state reported 15 more deaths attributed to the virus on Thursday, nine of them recent and six from December to January as a result of the ongoing data reconciliation with official death certificates. One of those six was a 79-year-old woman from Wood County.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is life-saving and available to all West Virginians ages 5 and older, and the booster shot is available to those 12 and older,” DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. “Please make the decision to protect yourself and your family.”