Nearly 50 W.Va. Counties Will Be Remote, Virtual School This Week

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that 49 counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Dec. 20. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m.

Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mason, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Tyler, Wayne and Wood counties, which were in the red zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

Barbour, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Mercer, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Taylor, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt and Wyoming counties were in the orange category and will also be remote learning-only.

Nine counties have opted to enter the red designation, including two gold counties: Lewis and Calhoun.

The COVID-19 Data Review Panel also announced that one county shifted in their color zones:

· Logan County: Moved from orange to red due to data validation and seven cases updated with 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: Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mason, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Tyler, Wayne, Wood

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: Barbour, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Mercer, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Taylor, Upshur, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wyoming

Gold (Elevated Community Transmission): In-person instruction is permitted with restrictions, including face coverings at all times 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: Calhoun, Lewis, Monroe, Tucker

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: Randolph, Roane, Summers

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: McDowell

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 22,249 active cases of the virus and 1,122 total deaths. Since the state began to track virus spread, there have been more than 71,200 confirmed cases to-date. In the past 24 hours, more than 1,460 new cases of the virus have been identified.