Dec 19, 2020
As the COVID-19 vaccine began to be administered this week to healthcare workers, emergency responders and other critical workers, state officials have announced what Phase 2 of vaccine distribution will look like in the Mountain State.
Current estimates have Phase 2 where the vaccine starts getting to the general populace starting as early as March 2021, Gov. Jim Justice said earlier this week.
Meanwhile, COVID positive cases and deaths continue to climb, with three more deaths reported Friday in Marshall County and four more in Ohio County.
As in Phase 1, Phase 2 of the vaccinations has been divided into subsections based on those at highest risk.
From STAFF REPORTS
Ohio County slipped back into “red” on West Virginia’s COVID-19 alert map Thursday, as the entire Northern Panhandle remained in the map’s highest-risk categories.
Ohio joined Hancock and Brooke counties in “red” the state Department of Health and Human Resources alert map, its highest risk category, while Marshall County was in “orange,” the second-highest-risk category.
Ohio County had an infection rate of 67.61 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 8.64, while Marshall County had an infection rate of 57.08 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 7.61.
The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department reported another 43 new positive COVID cases in its Thursday night update. That put the county’s total at 2,257 positive cases and 33 COVID-related deaths.
From STAFF REPORTS
COVID-related deaths in West Virginia passed a tragic mark on Tuesday, as more than 1,000 state residents have died from the virus since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, both Marshall and Ohio counties reported another COVID death in their Tuesday night updates.
According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources COVID-19 dashboard, 34 more deaths were reported Tuesday morning, which brought the state’s total to 1,012.
The Marshall County Health Department announced Tuesday night that a hospitalized 62-year-old man had died of COVID-19 complications, the 40th such death in the county since the pandemic began. It also announced 22 new confirmed positive and seven probable COVID cases. That brings the county’s totals to 1,463 confirmed cases, 250 probable cases and 11 hospitalizations.
From STAFF REPORTS
COVID-19 vaccinations will begin Tuesday morning for front-line workers at both Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital, a massive step in curbing the spread of a virus that claimed three more lives between Ohio and Marshall counties.
The hospitals’ front-line workers represent the first part of the first phase in the state of West Virginia’s vaccination rollout. They will receive the Pfizer version of the vaccine, which gained approval for emergency 11.65 distribution Friday night.
Wheeling Hospital Assistant Vice-President Tony Martinelli said hospital staff traveled to Morgantown on Monday to retrieve the first doses of the vaccine.
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