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COVID-19 numbers lowest since October

ELKINS — The number of active COVID-19 cases in Randolph County has reached its lowest total since the fall of last year.

Health officials reported during the county’s weekly COVID-19 update conference call Monday that there were currently 33 active cases. That is seven less than last week’s total and the smallest number the county has seen since Oct. 6, when it was at 35.

“It’s great to see the numbers continue to drop,” said Bonnie Woodrum, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department’s infectious disease specialist. “It really gives us a little breathing room, because with the number of people we have active now we have maybe 100 contacts we have to reach. Back when there were 200 or more we had like 2,000 contacts. It was crazy just trying to keep up with it.”

As the number of active cases in Randolph County continues to fall, the amount of residents getting vaccinations continues to climb.

Davis Medical Center currently has no COVID-19 positive patients.

“This is the fifth consecutive day that we have not had a COVID positive patient admitted in the hospital,” Davis Medical Center Liaison Officer Hollis Lipscomb said during Monday’s meeting. “We do have one right now that was positive about 20 days ago and one suspect patient, but none that has been diagnosed as positive. That is a huge plus from the 12 to 15 that we have been having consistently.”

This week’s mass vaccination clinic at the Phil Gainer Center will be from 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Eight hundred or more residents are projected to attend this week’s clinic.

“Our clinics have been going very smoothly,” Woodrum said. “Compared to what we hear from other counties and other states, we are doing a bang-up job. But we have a list of nearly 800 people that we are making calls to this week.”

This week’s clinic will administer doses mostly to people the age group 65 and older, as the state is hoping to get that age group completely vaccinated as soon as possible.

“The governor wants us to concentrate on finishing up the 65 and older group,” Woodrum said. “So we are trying to get everyone in that age group who wants the vaccine the opportunity to get it.”

There are currently 6,997 active COVID-19 cases in West Virginia. It was reported Monday that, for the first time in a while, there were no reported coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours. There have been 2,300 deaths in the state to date.

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