Coronavirus

More than a half million West Virginians have now tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic according to the Department of Health And Human Resources online dashboard.

In a call to get West Virginians vaccinated against COVID-19, Dr. Tom Takubo noted that he has never treated a person with an injury from the vaccine.

Ventilator usage hit an all-time high Thursday, as 111 patients are currently making use of the life-saving breathing machine, according to data released Friday by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday that, over the past eight weeks, there has been a 26% increase in new breakthrough cases, a 21% increase in breakthrough cases requiring hospitalization and a 25% increase in breakthrough deaths.

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on the rise, West Virginia officials say the delta variant is causing more extreme spread than previous strains of the virus. State officials say the fast-spreading variant could lead to a surge more deadly than previous waves of the pandemic.

Despite growing concerns about the highly infectious coronavirus delta variant, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Monday he is not yet going to reinstate a mask mandate. However, in lieu of such a measure, Justice and his health advisers are urging high-risk individuals to wear masks in public and continue to ask all residents to get vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that everyone who lives in areas with high caseloads of the coronavirus, including the vaccinated, wear masks when they are in indoor public spaces.

On this West Virginia Morning, we examine ways the pandemic affected education and the arts.

West Virginia public health officials have reported no new cases of a highly infectious variant of the coronavirus in the past week, but Gov. Jim Justice and others remain on alert.

While new cases of the coronavirus continue to decline in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice and other health officials expressed concerns over a more contagious variant of the virus.