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COVID-19 cases dropping in Randolph

ELKINS — For a fourth consecutive week, Randolph County has shown a decrease in active COVID-19 cases as numbers continue to tumble in the right direction.

As of Monday afternoon there were 109 active cases in the county, which is down 38 from last week’s 147. The county had 207 active cases three weeks ago and 245 the week before that.

“I never thought I’d be happy about there only being 109 active cases,” Bonnie Woodrum, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department’s infectious disease specialist, told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “That still leaves probably 1,000 contacts that we are following, but that is still a vast improvement. Those numbers reflect that our New Year’s rush is over as people finish their quarantine. I don’t know what we will get from the Super Bowl.”

Many health experts are fearing that gatherings during Super Bowl Sunday will lead to another possible surge. However, most predict the rise won’t be as significant as the post-holiday wave that peaked in January.

West Virginia currently has 15,557 active cases, and 2,121 West Virginians have lost their life since the pandemic began. The Mountain State has been one of the top states in administering vaccines, however.

This week’s vaccinations at the Phil Gainer Center will be on Wednesday and will be 275 first doses administered to those 65 and older. The vaccines are by appointment-only. Those who qualify and who are registered with the state will receive a call for their appointment time.

“This week is for new vaccinations only and they will be calling from the list that was supplied to us for the appointments,” said Woodrum. “When we set up an appointment for second doses, we set them up three weeks for Pfizer and four weeks for Moderna. We can’t give them any sooner than that, but we can give them after those dates. So if we don’t get the vaccine for the second doses, the protection is not compromised. We have up to six weeks to get the second dose administered.”

Officials are expecting a batch of both first and second doses to arrive in Elkins next week, including 300 first doses and possibly 400 second doses.

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