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Upshur County reaches highest active COVID case total ever

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley A masked employee takes down information from motorists in line to be tested for COVID-19 at DirectCare of Elkins Wednesday. Both Randolph County and Upshur County have hit their highest total of active COVID-19 cases in recent days.

ELKINS — With COVID-19 numbers continuing to rise, two local counties have reported more than 300 active cases each.

Upshur County had 308 active cases according to the most recent numbers released by the Upshur-Buckhannon Health Department on Sept. 3, breaking the county’s previous record for most active cases, which was 298 on Jan. 22.

Upshur officials noted that the county’s active cases total had dwindled down to two on June 25, before surging in recent weeks.

“In the beginning the increase was gradual,” a social media post by the Upshur-Buckhannon Health Department stated.

“We have noticed a rapid increase in cases for approximately 1 1/2 months,” the post continues. “Our numbers have skyrocketed since July 28, 2021.

“This is a good reference to show how quickly this delta variant has spread, and will continue to spread. As it has been reported in early August, the delta variant is here.”

Upshur County has reported a total of 43 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department announced that the county had 388 active cases, down from 455 on Sept. 3, which was the county’s highest total during the pandemic. The county has reported a total of 21 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic.

Barbour County had 158 active cases as of Wednesday, according to the county health department.

“Currently Barbour County has only 45.3% of its population, 12 years or older, fully vaccinated, and only 50.4% with at least one dose according to the state site,” a Barbour County Health Department social media post states.

On Wednesday, Tucker County’s active case numbers stood at 63, according to the county health department. Tucker County has seen 10 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic.

Since Sept. 1, “We have seen 69 new positive cases of COVID-19 in the county,” the Tucker County Health Department stated in a social media post.

Statewide, West Virginia had a total of 22,215 current active cases as of Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health & Human Resources.

The state saw 1,352 new cases since Tuesday, along with 18 new deaths.

“These are holes in our hearts and communities,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. “Please schedule your COVID-19 vaccine today to prevent further loss of life.”

The DHHR announced Wednesday that, statewide, 1,138,002 first doses of the vaccine have been administered, and 922,276 people have been fully vaccinated.

West Virginians 12 years and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. To learn more about the vaccine, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.

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