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

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that six counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Nov. 1. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m.

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

Mingo was the only county in the red category.

Some counties shifted in their color zones. They included:

• Barbour County: Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation of five cases removed from previous positive cases from the 7-day period.
• Boone County: Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation and ten nursing home residents excluded from case counts.
• Hampshire County: Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation and transfer of two cases to correct county of residence.
• Mineral County: Moved from green to yellow due to data validation and received one transfer of case to correct county of residence.
• Wood County: Moved from yellow to gold due to data validation of one case updated to confirmed.
• Pleasants County: Moved from green to yellow due to data validation of one case updated to confirmed.

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: Mingo

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: Berkeley, Morgan, Upshur, Wayne, Wyoming

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. Competitions can take place against schools within the same county as well as schools in other gold counties. Counties in gold include: Braxton, Clay, Jackson, Jefferson, Logan, Marshall, Monroe, Putnam, Tyler, Wood

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: Barbour, Boone, Cabell, Hampshire, Lincoln, Mercer, Mineral, Ohio, Pleasants, Raleigh, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Webster, Wetzel, 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: Brooke, Calhoun, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Mason, McDowell, Monongalia, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker

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 24,460 total cases of the virus and 457 deaths. At least 5,176 cases are considered active, according to DHHR.