Liz McCormick Published

Four W.Va. Counties Will Be Remote, Virtual School This Week

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The West Virginia Department of Education announced that four counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Oct. 11. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.

Doddridge, Harrison, Mingo and Upshur counties, which were in the orange zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

No counties were in the red category, but other counties shifted in their color zones.

They included:

  • Boone County moved from gold to yellow using the percent positivity rate which is less than 4 percent over 7-days due to data validation and removing duplicate cases.
  • Cabell County moved from orange to gold as the percent positivity is less than 5 percent over a 7-day period due to data validation and updating five cases with the correct county of residence.
  • Logan County moved from orange to yellow using the percent positivity rate which is less than 4 percent over 7-days due to data validation and updating 14 cases with the correct county of residence.
  • Upshur County moved from gold to orange as the percent positivity is greater than 5 percent over 7-days due to four probable cases updated to confirmed status and one case added during the time period.
  • Wayne County moved from green to yellow using the percent positivity rate which is greater than 3 percent over 7-days due to data validation and three updates to county of residence.

Red (Substantial Community Transmission): Remote-only learning mode. No extracurricular competitions or practices are permitted. Staff may report to their schools, as determined by the county. Essential support services, including special education and meals, will continue. Counties in red include: None

Orange (Heightened Community Transmission): Remote-only learning mode. Extracurricular practices may occur, however, competitions may not. Staff may report to their schools, as determined by the county. Essential support services, including special education and meals, will continue. Counties in orange include: Doddridge, Harrison, Mingo, Upshur

Gold (Elevated Community Transmission): In-person instruction is permitted with restrictions including face coverings at all times for grades 3-12. Extracurricular activities are permitted and competitions can take place against schools within the same county as well as schools in other gold counties. Counties in gold include: Barbour, Berkeley, Cabell, Jackson, Kanawha, Putnam, Randolph

Yellow (Increased Community Transmission): School may be held for in-person instruction. Extracurricular practices and competitions may occur. Health and safety precautions include, at a minimum, face coverings at all times for grades six and above. Please refer to your county for specific face covering requirements. Counties in yellow include: Boone, Logan, Morgan, Nicholas, Wayne, Wirt

Green (Minimal Community Transmission): School may be held for in-person instruction. Extracurricular practices and competitions may occur. Health and safety precautions include, at a minimum, face coverings in grades three and above when students are outside of core groups and in congregant settings and on school buses. Please refer to your county for specific face covering requirements. Counties in green include: Braxton, Brooke, Calhoun, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jefferson, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mineral, Monongalia, Monroe, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Raleigh, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Webster, Wetzel, Wood, Wyoming

All schools, both public and private, are expected to adhere to the WVDE’s re-entry map to guide in-person instruction and extracurricular activities.

Updates to the map are announced each Saturday at 5 p.m. and will be in effect until the following Saturday at the same time, according to the WVDE. The only exception would be if a county turns red during the week.

If this happens, the change would be made immediately to the map, according to the WVDE, and all in-person instruction and extracurricular and athletic activities would be suspended.

As of Saturday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 17,913 total cases of the virus and 381 deaths. 4,446 cases are considered active, according to DHHR.