CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — West Virginia’s seven-day COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 people tops the nation, according to CDC data reported Saturday afternoon.
There were 11.9 deaths per 100,000 people in the Mountain State over the last seven days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 data tracker.
The national rate was 3.1 deaths per 100,000.
The deaths from COVID-19 have escalated following the latest surge in new cases. Although West Virginia’s rate of new cases remains among the highest in the nation, data suggests the rate has declined in recent days.
“You’ll see that our numbers are getting better, which leads us to absolutely believe wholeheartedly that we have passed through the eye of the storm, but in getting to where we were at the peak, many of these folks were hospitalized and we lost a lot of them. We’re going to continue to lose some more and more,” Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday before reading out the information on 97 individuals whose deaths were reported between his Monday and Thursday press briefings. Justice had read information for 47 individuals on Monday.
In Harrison County, September was the deadliest month since the inception of the pandemic.
“We had 29 deaths reported in September, and as of noon (Friday), have nine deaths reported for October,” said Chad Bundy, executive director of the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department. “We are greatly saddened by the loss of so many Harrison Countians recently and encourage everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and their community.”
Marion County last week reported eight deaths — residents ranging in age from 44 to 81 — in just five days. Marion County Health Department Administrator Lloyd White told WV News at the time he was “absolutely convinced” that these deaths would not be occurring at such a high rate if more individuals had been vaccinated.
“Ninety-nine percent of the deaths are in the unvaccinated part of the population, so you have a really favorable chance of surviving with the vaccine, more so than not having the vaccine,” he said.
Although case numbers are beginning to trend in the right direction, the CDC still classifies West Virginia as a high-transmission state.
The state’s County Alert Map is no longer mostly red due to improving percentages of positive tests, but 52 of the state’s 55 counties had infection rates in the red, and the three that were not were just a step down in orange on Friday.
North Central West Virginia had some of the highest infection rates in the state.
Harrison County’s infection rate of 107.27 per 100,000 population was the highest in the state, and Marion County wasn’t far behind at 99.11 per 100,000, nor Preston County at 95.29 per 100,000.
West Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccine rate remains low compared to the rest of the U.S. Less than half of the total population is fully vaccinated, compared to 56.4% of the total U.S. population.
Only Idaho has a lower COVID-19 vaccination rate among U.S. states.
