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

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that eight counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Oct. 18. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Oct. 17 at 5 p.m.

Berkeley, Mingo, Morgan, Randolph, Upshur, Wirt and Wyoming counties, which were in the orange zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

Doddridge was the only county in the red category and will also be required to teach students virtually this week.

Some counties also shifted in their color zones, according to the state’s COVID-19 Data Review Panel. They included:

• Barbour County. Moved from green to yellow due to data validation due to three cases updated to confirmed status and three cases updated with correct county of residence.
• Clay County. Moved from gold to yellow due to data validation and transfer of one case to correct county of residence.
• Harrison County. Moved from yellow to green due to data validation and exclusion of twenty-two nursing home patients.
• Upshur County. Moved from gold to orange due to data validation and one probable case updated to confirmed status.

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: Doddridge

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: Berkeley, Mingo, Morgan, Randolph, Upshur, Wirt, Wyoming

Gold (Elevated Community Transmission): In-person instruction is permitted with restrictions including face coverings 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: Gilmer, Jefferson, Marshall, Pendleton, Wood

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: Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Clay, Jackson, Logan, Mercer, Mineral, Monroe, Nicholas, Putnam, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Wayne, Webster

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: Cabell, Calhoun, Fayette, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, Mason, McDowell, Monongalia, Ohio, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Raleigh, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Wetzel

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 Saturday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 19,801 total cases of the virus to-date and 399 deaths. 4,839 cases are considered active, according to DHHR.