West Virginia reported its 101st COVID-19 death Tuesday as new daily COVID-19 cases continue to remain higher than previous months.
The disease claimed the life of a 67-year-old woman in Cabell County.
West Virginia has had 5,161 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases; 1,569 of them are active. The county hit the hardest has been Monongalia County, which has 398 active cases. More than a quarter of the county’s cases are between the ages 20 and 29, which is much higher than the age range’s state average of less than 15 percent.
In response to Monongalia County’s higher rates, Gov. Jim Justice ordered the county’s bars to be shut down. Bars are open in the rest of the state.
The state reported 83 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases Monday, which is the most-recent day data are available. The state consistently has been reporting higher daily case numbers than in any other month this year. Before July, only two days with more than 70 COVID-19 cases was reported. In July, however, the new daily case number has surpassed 70 cases almost every day.
The hospitalization rate also has been increasing since early July. Confirmed hospitalizations were 23 on July 1 and has risen to 77 on Monday. It had been trending downward in previous months.
West Virginia also has seen several church outbreaks in the past couple of weeks. Seven counties currently have a church outbreak: Grant, Logan, Boone, Kanawha, Raleigh and Taylor.
