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

Updated on Nov. 23, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that twenty counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Nov. 22. State officials rolled out updated data Monday, Nov. 23.

Berkeley, Brooke, Hardy, Jackson, Marshall, Mineral, Ritchie, Wirt and Wood counties, which were in the red zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

Boone, Cabell, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Mason, Ohio, Putnam, Wayne and Wyoming counties were in the orange category and will also be remote learning-only.

Additionally, Upshur County voluntarily entered into the red designation to only offer full remote learning. .

The COVID-19 Data Review Panel also announced that five counties shifted in their color zones. They included:

• Barbour County: Moved from orange to gold due to data validation and three duplicate cases removed.
• Grant County: Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation and seven cases updated to with the correct county of residence.
• Morgan County: Moved from orange to gold due to data validation and one case updated to with the correct county of residence.
• Ritchie County: Moved from gold to orange due to data validation and one case updated to confirmed.
• Taylor County: Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation and four duplicate cases removed.

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: Berkeley, Hardy, Jackson, Marshall, Mineral, Wood

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: Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Mason, Ohio, Putnam, Ritchie, Wayne, Wirt, 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: Barbour, Clay, Harrison, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mingo, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Preston, Upshur, Wetzel

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: Calhoun, Fayette, Grant, Greenbrier, Logan, Marion, McDowell, Mercer, Monongalia, Pleasants, Raleigh, Randolph, Taylor, Tyler

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, Doddridge, Gilmer, Lewis, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Roane, Summers, Tucker, Webster

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 Sunday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 40,478 total cases of the virus and 662 deaths. In the past 24 hours, 880 new cases of the virus have been identified. On Saturday alone, there were more than 1,100 new cases within a 24 hour period. More than 13,300 cases are considered active, according to DHHR.