Youngest COVID-related death reported in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has reported the youngest COVID-related death, a 15-year old girl from Raleigh County.

The teenager’s death was included in the state’s COVID-19 death toll as a result of the Bureau for Public Health’s continuing data reconciliation.

The first minor to die of COVID-19 was a 17-year old, according to the DHHR. That death was reported in December of 2020.

The official death certificates were also reported for a 67-year old female from Putnam County, an 81-year old male from Ohio County, a 27-year old female from Wayne County, a 72-year old male from Monongalia County, and a 100-year old female from Mineral County.

These deaths range from January through May 2022, with three deaths occurring in September and December 2021.

Thursday, DHHR also confirmed the deaths of an 89-year old female from Greenbrier County, a 77-year old male from Greenbrier County, and a 67-year old male from Jefferson County.

There have been nine deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 6,971 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

There are currently 2,117 active COVID-19 cases statewide.

On the state’s County Alert System map, 24 counties are color-coded yellow, indicating a slightly higher infection rate. The rest of West Virginia’s 55 counties are color-coded green.

Currently, 14,925 cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant have been reported and 4,888 of the Omicron variant have been confirmed.

As of Thursday, 178 COVID-19 positive West Virginians are in the hospital, 24 are in the ICU and 11 are on ventilators, according to the DHHR dashboard.

Right now, there are seven COVID-19 positive pediatric patients. One pediatric patient has been admitted to the ICU and one is on a ventilator.

508,161 West Virginians have recovered from COVID-19 complications.

Of the eligible population, 66 percent has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 57 percent is fully vaccinated against the virus and 488,312 West Virginians have received at booster shot.

CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (10), Berkeley (156), Boone (20), Braxton (8), Brooke (17), Cabell (106), Calhoun (10), Clay (2), Doddridge (3), Fayette (58), Gilmer (2), Grant (9), Greenbrier (30), Hampshire (20), Hancock (37), Hardy (13), Harrison (91), Jackson (12), Jefferson (106), Kanawha (210), Lewis (35), Lincoln (24), Logan (47), Marion (88), Marshall (29), Mason (41), McDowell (13), Mercer (83), Mineral (32), Mingo (23), Monongalia (125), Monroe (17), Morgan (7), Nicholas (56), Ohio (62), Pendleton (1), Pleasants (4), Pocahontas (3), Preston (22), Putnam (66), Raleigh (97), Randolph (41), Ritchie (8), Roane (25), Summers (7), Taylor (30), Tucker (4), Tyler (4), Upshur (43), Wayne (34), Webster (5), Wetzel (24), Wirt (4), Wood (56), Wyoming (37). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.

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