Active coronavirus cases in West Virginia have dipped to their lowest levels in 13 months, health officials said Monday.
There were 1,467 active COVID-19 cases statewide as of Sunday, dipping below 1,500 for the first time since May 18, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Resources said in a daily update.
According to the state COVID-19 dashboard, the number of confirmed daily cases has surpassed 100 once since May 29 and only once above 50 confirmed cases since June 16.
About 63% of residents ages 12 and up have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and about 53% are fully vaccinated.
The state also reported there have been nearly 2,500 total cases involving variants of the virus, including 492 cases in Berkeley and 163 in Jefferson counties in the Eastern Panhandle not far from Washington, D.C. Monongalia County, home of West Virginia University, has seen 370 such cases.
Viruses constantly mutate, and most changes aren’t concerning. There is a worry that some variants might evolve enough to be more contagious, cause more severe illness or evade the protection that vaccines provide.
The virus has caused 2,878 deaths in West Virginia, including two reported on Monday.
“The most important thing we can do is get this virus behind us,” said Garner, who attended crosstown rival George Washington High School. “And in order to do that, we have to get anyone with vaccine hesitancy into these chairs.”
Biden tried to address the hesitancy problem.
“Now, there’s a fair amount of misinformation out there, and some of my friends have asked me, ‘Is the vaccination safe?’” she said to a small audience of state and local officials. “And you all know, the answer is yes. I got my shot, and I promise it didn’t even hurt, and I hate needles.”
Biden also met separately with West Virginia first lady Cathy Justice.
Gov. Jim Justice has attempted to woo more West Virginians to get vaccinated by offering a $100 savings bond to anyone up to age 35 who receives or has received a shot. Earlier in the year, the state led the nation in vaccines, but demand has dropped.
Last year, the coronavirus pandemic upended thousands of 2020 college graduates’ career plans, but how does the landscape for jobs look now to the class of 2021?
In a nutshell, there have been fewer opportunities over the past year across the country — and also in West Virginia.
“We know that across the country, nearly half of the [2020] college graduates are stuck looking for work,” said economist Avinandan Mukherjee, a professor and dean of the Lewis College of Business at Marshall University. “And when they do find jobs, I found some numbers that suggest that about 69 to 70 percent are expecting lower salaries than they would before the pandemic.”
However, there is employment hope looming for 2020 graduates and the soon-to-graduate class of 2021.
“The market is definitely still pretty depressed, but we are looking at a pretty good recovery and rebounding of the economy in a very robust way,” Mukherjee said.
The virtual economy is booming, and telecommuting and remote work are likely the No. 1 trend in the future of work, according to Mukherjee.
Extended: Remote Work, Digital Networking To Become New Reality For Pandemic-Era Grads, Marshall Economist Says
He said that’s where the employee landscape is heading, but West Virginia has to be ready — by way of adequate broadband connection and functional infrastructure, both digital and physical.
Mukherjee said West Virginia is on the right track, though, pointing to the recently announced Ascend West Virginia project, which provides a $12,000 incentive, plus a year’s worth of free outdoor recreational opportunities. The goal is to attract more people to move to West Virginia.
“It is, I think, the country’s best remote worker program right now,” he said.
Mukherjee also points to the recent signing of House Bill 2002 — a comprehensive broadband expansion bill. The bill offers new consumer protections to broadband users, makes the deployment of publicly owned infrastructure possible and expands on existing data-collection efforts to identify areas of the state that need high-speed internet.
All of this, Mukherjee said, will help West Virginia enter this new job landscape. He also said the gig economy, people who work in a variety of jobs as independent contractors, is seeing a shift.
“One of the things that’s particularly relevant in this gig economy is this focus on reskilling and upskilling,” he said. “So, for students coming out of colleges and people with experience in the world of business, upskilling and reskilling is all that’s going to matter.”
He said individual skill development, individual accomplishments, and stackable credentials will be important. Stackable credentials means a set of courses, also known as nanodegrees, to show a variety of certifications and skills. Mukherjee said these will be much more attractive to employers in an evolving gig economy.
Finally, Mukherjee said there are three top things that both 2020 and upcoming 2021 college grads need to remember: build skill sets, be comfortable with all kinds of technology and rely on and develop digital networking.
“It is more important than ever, because the jobs that many of these students … will be doing in the new economy of the future, the post-pandemic economy, aren’t there yet,” Mukherjee said. “So, focus on skills, not just knowledge … skills are the currency of the labor market right now.”
Gov. Jim Justice announced another round of unreported deaths in Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing.
TheDepartment of Health and Human Resources discovered another 35 COVID-19 related deaths had gone unreported, adding to the more than 200 deaths discovered since early March, Justice said.
TheDHHR has conducted an investigation into the reporting error. Despite the governor’s dismay at the undercount, he said the investigation determined there was no intention to report incorrect data.
“You don’t have anybody that is out there that is purposefully doing something that we can get our hands on right now,” Justice said.
The governor explained that the state had not implemented an electronic tracking system for COVID-19 deaths and had used a system that tracked death certificates. But delays in that paper system were the root of the problem in reporting these deaths. He indicated that would change.
So far, 2,676 people in West Virginia have died from COVID-19.
The West Virginia Senate has passed a bill that requires county school boards and county superintendents to comply with instructions given by the West Virginia Board of Education.
Already in state law, the state Board of Education may take over a county board if it refuses to comply with a ruling given by the state BOE.
According to supporters, SB 588 seeks to avoid a full takeover and instead help county boards of education get back into compliance by giving them options on how to do so while still maintaining their authority.
Opponents of the bill argue that it is “a takeover by a different name” and infringes on local autonomy.
The bill would permit the state superintendent to approve county board agendas as well as any expenditures by county board members — if that board is not compliant with a ruling given by the state BOE.
In the original version of the bill, the measure also included withholding of pay for county board members, but this was amended out of the bill after heated debate over the weekend. State aid to counties could still be withheld.
SB 588 passed 21-12 and now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.
The bill comes after tensions arose between the state Board of Education and a handful of county school boards that opted to keep students in remote learning models out of concerns from the coronavirus pandemic. This went against the state board’s ruling, which required all school districts, K-8, to reopen to full, in-person learning regardless of the color on the state’s coronavirus risk map.
West Virginia University administrators announced plans to hold an in-person commencement ceremony in May amid improving public health conditions. The plan was announced in a virtual campus forum Thursday.
Last spring, graduates had their graduation ceremony canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s ceremony will be held on May 15-16 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.
Both 2020 and 2021 classes will be able to walk across the stage in May, offering students and families the opportunity to celebrate earning degrees. Masks will be required at graduation and guests will be limited, the university said.
The announcement was one in a series of loosening campus pandemic restrictions as cases of the virus are declining statewide and the university plans to have all employees over 50 vaccinated by the end of March.
Officials said employees and faculty under 50 and the general student population will be vaccinated through community centers in accordance with the state’s rollout plan.
“We are hopeful that everyone will be vaccinated by the end of summer,” said Provost Maryanne Reed. “As such as we are planning to return to a normal, on-campus fall semester.”
Student organizations and club sports teams will return to limited in-person activities and on-campus tours of admitted high school seniors will resume on March 1.
Still, Reed tempered her optimism reminding students and faculty that the university will remain vigilant and responsive to ever-changing public health conditions.
“We will adapt to the reality on the ground, whatever that is come fall,” she said.