Virtual Learning Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Schools Still Dealing With Effects Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Four years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic changed daily life for everyone, but the adjustments were perhaps most acute for schools and students. We hear about the adapting learning for the COVID-19 pandemic – and its continued effects on the state’s schools.

Four years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic changed daily life for everyone, but the adjustments were perhaps most acute for schools and students.

Then a deputy superintendent, now State Superintendent Michele Blatt spoke with Chris Schulz about adapting learning for the COVID-19 pandemic, and its continued effects on the state’s schools.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Schulz: Can you explain to me what that March was like four years ago?

Blatt: We definitely had discussions about COVID and what we were hearing from other states and around the world, kind of putting plans in place. But a lot of the discussions, especially with our local health officials and the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) were that there will be some mitigation strategies that we want to put in place, that we will not be closing down schools or anything like that. So we were kind of really caught off guard when the governor did that on March 13, shut down schools and sent everyone home on that Friday.

Everything really happened fast. We had to have all hands on deck, of course, in our counties, and here at the Department of Education, to start thinking about how we were going to not only teach the children from home, but also provide meals and other services that the school system provides for them.

Schulz: I’ve heard from other educators across the state that the turnaround was just like, you know, 48 hours or less, in some cases. How did that come together, and what was the top priority for schools across the state?

Blatt: I think initially there was a big focus on “How are we going to educate the students?” And then within a couple of days it was “We’ve got to make sure that meals are provided to all these students.” We know that in a rural state like West Virginia, the internet’s not something that we could rely on in all of our schools. So we actually started working with superintendents immediately to determine which ones had virtual programs already existing in their counties, which ones had learning management systems that would work to support something like this, and then ramping up the virtual school system that we have here at the Department of Education that serves many counties.

And then thinking about – what about the students that do not have internet service, did not have computers or something available at that point at home? And how would we provide services for those students? There was a lot of our counties initially, that first week or so, we were deploying computers out to the schools, whether it was delivery through the buses, or they were having on-site pickups, so that all the students had their devices at home, a lot of ordering and trying to get in additional computers so that every student had one to work from. But then also a lot of our counties had to rely initially on working through practice of activities and worksheets that we actually ended up distributing in many counties as we distributed the meals on the bus routes.

Schulz: Can you tell me a little bit about the challenges of those lower classes, those younger students, because so much of their learning is experiential, it’s play-based. How was that addressed as the pandemic progressed and extended into months?

Blatt: I know that many of our elementary schools worked together not only to provide virtual lessons, and the ones that students were able to join, they actually had live sessions with those students. It was students joining the [Microsoft] Teams meetings so that they were actually able to see the students and the students could interact with their teachers. We also had many counties that put together activity boxes.

I know here in Kanawha County, they put together boxes with Playdough, balls, coloring books, crayons and different things like that, and distributed those into different neighborhoods and things, because we know that’s so important for those young learners to continue to stay engaged in activities as well. It was really, as I said earlier, an all hands on deck and learning as we went, but what are the resources that we could get out into the homes and into the neighborhoods that we serve?

Schulz: As the pandemic progresses, did new issues emerge? What were those?

Blatt: Well, I think that continued to be the priority, providing instruction to our students, whether virtually or through some type of packet, and then making sure that all of our students receive their meals, even through the weekends and things. Then we really started focusing on how we could expand the internet access across the state.

The governor initiated a program that we called Kids Connect. We actually deployed staff from various places, along with the National Guard, to actually put wireless routers and Wi-Fi hotspots in parking lots of all of our schools. They were in the libraries in various communities, so that students who did not have access to the internet would have a way to, if parents were able to take them to the site, they could access their information, or at least download the activities that they needed for the week. So as some of the basic needs started to be met, we started looking at how we can expand access and other things that our students needed to get through the pandemic.

Schulz: We’ve heard a lot since students came back to the classroom about the impact that this has had on mental health. I don’t hear as much about the impact on teachers and staff. Is that something that was being discussed in the department as well?

Blatt: Our teachers and staff were, of course, concerned for themselves and for their own families. But also, they were used to seeing these students every day, taking care of these students, a lot of times actually putting eyes on the students to make sure that they were being taken care of. I think our teachers and staff were really stressed throughout the pandemic. They were trying to provide instruction in a way that they had not in the past, cooks trying to put meal boxes together, weeks at a time and making sure those are distributed. The only person to really see some of these families was bus drivers that were out delivering these things to the students.

I think it really took a toll on our teachers and staff. The pandemic took a toll on everyone and the concerns and things that you have personally and with your own family, but when you’re in a school, you consider those students your family as well. And not being able to be with their students and to help them through a lot of this, I think that was something that we did talk a lot about and address during the pandemic. I think we were aware that there would be some mental health issues and some other things when students return to school.

Schulz: What can you tell me about that process to bring students back to the classroom?

Blatt: Once the vaccine became available, we were instrumental here at the department to help coordinate all of the vaccine clinics across the counties because the schools were the best place to bring the communities together and to provide those vaccines. There was a lot of time and attention focused on that prior to discussions of bringing the students back. Once we started looking at the vaccines becoming more available, and for younger children, then it was time to start working with the governor’s office and everyone to think about when are we going to start putting our students back in school.

We had weekly, at a minimum, weekly calls with all of our superintendents throughout the pandemic. And so we started looking, kind of researching together what is the best way, knowing that our counties would need to make some of these decisions with their local boards in their communities. When we first started back to school, we had students on a variety of schedules. Some had a hybrid schedule, where they were in the building two or three days and still remote, virtual learning for a couple of days. Others did like split A-B schedules, so they had half the kids in the morning, half the kids in the afternoon. There was a variety of ways that our counties chose to do that, and they had that local flexibility, because all of our communities are different and needed to be able to meet the needs of their local community.

Schulz: Four years on, what do you see as the legacy of COVID-19 and the pandemic within West Virginia schools?

Blatt: I think we all say all the time, we never thought that we would experience a pandemic. As we start looking back at the schools and the legacy, we’re still struggling to regain the learning that was lost for our students. You hear a lot of talk about, as you mentioned earlier, the mental health or behavior issues in the school. We have students that did not consistently have school for four years. And when you’re looking at your younger learners, they didn’t learn the social interactions, and the way that school works. So we still have third, fourth, fifth graders that are not only catching up on their learning, but also just how to get through the day and how school works, and how to make friends and all of those different things.

I think we are in a better place in the long run, because I think people really got to see the value of public education, and all of the different things that’s provided through our public schools. Virtual learning works for some students, but the majority of our students need a teacher in front of them, and they need that daily interaction with other children.

Researcher: Making Virtual Learning Successful Requires Coordination Across A School System

In our latest installment of our summer education series, “Closing the COVID Gap,” we explore the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on broadband needs and virtual schooling.

Many pockets of West Virginia still do not have reliable internet access in homes, yet thousands of school children last year were forced into remote and virtual learning.

Additionally, West Virginia lawmakers approved a bill this past session that allows the creation of virtual charter schools in the state.

Education reporter Liz McCormick spoke with Chris Harrington, director of Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute at Michigan Virtual School, who has studied virtual learning for ten years, to get some perspective on ways to make it successful in West Virginia — and the importance of reliable internet access.

Michigan Virtual School is a nonprofit that was launched in 1999. According to its website, the program is not a school itself, rather it provides a variety of online course options for students who may not have access to a particular subject of interest at their school. The program also offers professional development for educators in Michigan and globally.

The organization’s research institute studies blended and online learning throughout Michigan, the nation and internationally to incorporate a global perspective.

Extended: Making Virtual Learning Successful Requires Coordination Across A School System

This transcript from the original broadcast has been lightly edited for clarity.

LIZ MCCORMICK: The coronavirus pandemic came out of nowhere, and students and teachers were thrown into virtual settings. What makes a good virtual schooling model?

CHRIS HARRINGTON: For schools and districts to do this right, there really needs to be a lot of thought and strategic design put into the planning of the program, and then the actual implementation of the program. Technology is going to be a foundational piece of that. Then that means computing devices. Also internet access — whether it’s making sure that there’s enough internet access in a school or district if students are engaging in online courses, on-site, in the school, or certainly from home. So having those technology foundational components is really important.

But then also, what comes right off the heels of that is, how a teacher teaches in a virtual environment is also very different. How you communicate with kids is different. How you provide feedback for students is different. How you create community in a virtual classroom is different. And it’s not something that is very intuitive for a novice teacher or for someone who is new to teaching in the virtual environment. And that certainly doesn’t come naturally, when we’re thrown into it like we were.

There needs to be some time to grow teachers’ skills in teaching in a digital learning environment, and make sure the technology is there, the instructional design built into the development of your digital content, and then of course, your professional development to grow teachers in their skills of teaching. In a virtual course, those are the critical components, in my opinion.

MCCORMICK: How important is it to have a supportive home system for these children? How important is that component to having an effective virtual schooling model?

HARRINGTON: You hit the nail right on the head there. That is critical, because every home situation is different. I’ve led multiple virtual learning programs serving as a director for schools and districts in the state of Pennsylvania. One of my foundational components of success — for any student — was engaging the family, and working with the family, and setting up the right learning environment at home, [to ensure] they knew how to do this, and they knew how to support their child. Because that’s not something that all adults are able to just know without being given some guidance from the school.

MCCORMICK: What sort of issues did you find the pandemic exposed in the country, when it comes to virtual schooling and the needs of virtual school? What did we learn?

HARRINGTON: One of the things that we knew was a problem and a concern was equity of access to technology. We knew it existed before the pandemic, but boy, when everybody was pushed to be learning virtually and remotely, that was certainly highlighted and became a very severe pain-point for a lot of schools and districts who are suffering from that inequity.

I think some of the other concerns, or some of the other issues that were really brought to the forefront, was that there were a lot of schools and districts who were using technology in a supplemental way only, in some cases. Some schools were just dabbling in technology. They had the technology, but there wasn’t a real formal plan and structure around how we’re really going to leverage technology to deliver the benefits that it could promise. And as I mentioned before, it’s the content and that cohesive approach to developing course content, but then also all the pedagogical skills to be able to do that. That was certainly the biggest hurdle that I think we ran into.

I think this is why there was so much stress, you know, in the homes of families. But then also in teachers’ virtual classrooms and also with the administrators, because this education just wasn’t delivering what we really hoped it could be delivering during this time. And I can tell you right now, that is where schools and districts are focusing on moving forward.

MCCORMICK: Chris, going back to some of those critical needs that you touched on when it comes to having a successful virtual model. West Virginia, and many rural states, have struggled with providing adequate and reliable broadband internet.

This past year, in an effort to help those kids and families stay connected for school, West Virginia officials established something called Kids Connect, where they made more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, and they spread them out all over the state, so that if a family didn’t have internet at home, they could at least drive to one of these hotspots so that kids could turn in their homework. That’s not ideal, and I wonder, as a researcher, what needs to happen going forward in rural places like West Virginia? What needs to happen to improve access to this utility?

HARRINGTON: You mentioned the term utility. We get heating to people’s homes, we get electricity in people’s homes, we get water to people’s homes, or if we don’t have pipe water, there’s water supplies available somehow, someway. We have ways of getting these other utilities to homes. But how do we do it for internet access?

If there were conversations between telecom providers and state officials, and the state Department of Education, and include your state chambers of commerce, things like that, and identify what are the standards of access that are needed. And then prioritize funding and accountability, expectations to make sure that the work actually gets done. It takes a sustained effort.

I think one of the things that we probably have examples of in every state is when we really want to get something done, we can get it done. But I think it’s going to take collaboration. It’s not just going to be one telecom provider, it’s not just going to be one grant coming from the state that incentivizes to a certain extent.

I think it has to be a whole systemic analysis of what do we really need for business? Commercial purposes? And also educational purposes? And how do we actually get it there and then actually put the process in place and get the funding and the human resources aligned to be able to make it a reality.

This episode of “Closing the COVID Gap” originally aired on West Virginia Morning on July 28, 2021.

For Some West Virginians, Virtual And Homeschool Were Game-Changers For Learning

We continue with our summer education radio series, “Closing the COVID Gap.” In our last story, we heard from West Virginia’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Now, we take a closer look at what some West Virginians are thinking about when it comes to school this fall.

Last year, many West Virginia counties were forced into remote and virtual learning models as COVID-19 spread worsened. Some students struggled with learning from home, but there were also some who thrived. By August 2020, 50,000 students in the Mountain State had signed up for full, virtual learning.

But some, like 17-year-old Reese Wilbur, a student at Capital High School in Charleston, made the decision to go virtual after the school year started.

“The first two weeks we were red, so I couldn’t go in-person,” said Wilbur, referencing the color-coded COVID-19 risk map used by the West Virginia Department of Education. “[But] I was like, I don’t want this to be how it’s going to be all year, not knowing if I’m going to be in-person or not. So I made the decision to just go fully virtual, and that was honestly the best thing I could have done.”

Wilbur said she makes good grades and doesn’t like to procrastinate, so she felt confident virtual school would be doable. And she did well.

“It really just allowed me to focus more on my work,” she said. “Honestly, I feel more connected. Like, I feel like I really, really learned a lot this year.”

She said she felt like a college student, and the flexibility of her school schedule allowed her to work during the school year, too. She liked the setup so much that she wants to stick with virtual again for her senior year this fall.

Wilbur is not alone in feeling like she was able to stay more focused doing virtual school. This was the same for Tara Pauley, whose son signed up for virtual school at George Washington High School in Charleston.

Pauley ended up running a small virtual learning pod with her son and her son’s close friend. Both boys will be sophomores this fall. At first, choosing virtual was about safety, but Pauley said this learning model actually allowed both boys to get ahead in school and create a schedule that worked for them.

“We started working and we could work for a few hours, take a break. They could play video games,” Pauley said. “And then go back to getting their work done for a couple more hours. [Virtual] just didn’t have the same stress to it.”

Both boys are on individual education plans, or IEPs, for attention issues. Pauley said as the boys realized they were making better grades at home versus when they were in traditional classrooms, she noticed a boost in their mental health.

“They’re smart boys, but I don’t think the way that things have been going for them in school that they were seeing that of themselves,” she said. “And I feel, as we’ve gone through this year, that I’ve seen them change how they felt about themselves to a more positive view of their abilities.”

For Pauley, sticking with virtual this fall is a no-brainer for her son, because he flourished.

There were also some families who decided to give homeschooling a try. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the rate of families in the U.S. that opted to try homeschooling for the 2020-2021 school year doubled compared to the previous year.

Clover Wright is an assistant professor of early childhood education at California University of Pennsylvania. She has a doctorate of education in curriculum and instruction specializing in early childhood learning. Wright decided to homeschool her three boys out of safety concerns.

“Knowing that they didn’t love online learning, and definitely not wanting to put our children in school unvaccinated, we made the decision to withdraw them from the school system and homeschool them,” Wright said.

Wright, who is the wife of former West Virginia Public Broadcasting news director Jesse Wright, said she and her mother took turns throughout the year teaching the boys from home. Her sons, who are 11, 9, and 7, turned out to really like homeschooling.

“My goal for this year was to make the learning their job,” she said. “To kind of give them autonomy over their education in a way that they’d never had. Not in public school, or even before they were in public school. To say to them, you know, what are your interests? What do you want to get good at?”

State health officials, such as coronavirus czar Clay Marsh, reported last year that children are less likely to catch and spread COVID-19. But there is still a chance they could get sick and for a child to get very ill.

There are also concerns over Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, or MIS-C, which is a condition that sometimes develops in children after contracting COVID-19 or from being around someone who has had it. The condition can be deadly, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report most children recover from MIS-C after receiving medical care.

Wright is concerned about MIS-C, any potential long-term health impacts, and she’s worried about the new Delta variant. She said she will keep her sons in homeschool until they are eligible for the vaccine.

“For me, it’s about minimizing the risks that my kids have,” she said.

While some students ended up thriving in virtual or homeschool learning, some students found school at home particularly challenging, including 17-year-old Layton Watts from South Charleston High School.

“At first, it wasn’t too bad, but after however many weeks and months of just not knowing what’s coming next and just having to be inside, it really took a toll on us,” Watts remembered.

Watts will be a senior this fall, and while he said he did fine grade-wise this past year, the isolation from completing school work at home was tough.

“I can’t really explain how I felt in that time, but I had never experienced anything like that,” he said. “It was the most difficult time I think I’ve ever gone through, and just the trauma from it, I’m still dealing with it. I don’t ever want to have to sit in one place ever again, because that was terrible.”

In addition to the social-emotional concerns, academic progress was also an issue for both students and educators. The West Virginia Department of Education reported in the spring that one-third of all K-12 students in West Virginia failed at least one core subject in the fall.

The agency said data for the spring won’t be available until August, but the potential gap in learning was so concerning that a major push this summer in West Virginia has been toward remediation efforts — from robust summer school camps to classrooms on wheels.

Watts said he’s thrilled about having a more normal school experience for his senior year.

“I’m not as worried now as I was at this time last year about the future,” he said. “And it’s a real relief, knowing that things are getting back to the way they were.”

This episode of “Closing the COVID Gap” originially aired on West Virginia Morning on July 7, 2021.

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.

Twenty-seven W.Va. Counties Will Be Remote, Virtual School This Week

Updated on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 at 4:30 p.m.

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that 27 counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Dec. 6. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Dec. 5 at 5 p.m.

Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Marshall, Mason, Mineral, Ohio, Wayne, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming counties, which were in the red zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

Boone, Cabell, Hardy, Jefferson, Morgan, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Ritchie, Tyler, Upshur and Wetzel counties were in the orange category and will also be remote learning-only.

The COVID-19 Data Review Panel also announced that two counties shifted in their color zones. They included:

Nicholas County: Moved from red to orange due to data validation and one duplicate case removed.
Upshur County: Moved from gold to orange due to data validation and lab results updated to the correct residence.
Brooke County: Moved from orange to red on Sunday, Dec. 6
Hampshire County: Moved from orange to red on Sunday, Dec. 6

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: Barbour, Berkeley, Grant, Hancock, Marshall, Mason, Mineral, Ohio, Wayne, Wirt, Wood, Wyoming

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: Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Morgan, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Ritchie, Tyler, Upshur, 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.

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.

According to the West Virginia Department of Education, there are 22 outbreaks in the state’s K-12 public and private schools and there are 96 total positive cases.

As of Sunday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 19,077 active cases of the virus and 838 deaths. Since the state began to track virus spread, there have been more than 54,900 confirmed cases to-date. In the past 24 hours, more than 1,400 new cases of the virus have been identified.

Twenty-three W.Va. Counties Will Be Remote, Virtual School This Week

The West Virginia Department of Education announced that 23 counties will be remote learning-only for the week of Nov. 29. State officials rolled out updated data Saturday, Nov. 28 at 5 p.m. Gov. Jim Justice has called for all schools to begin the week in remote learning, with those in green, yellow and gold able to return to in-person or blended learning models on Thursday, Dec. 3.

Mason, Mineral, Ritchie, Wirt and Wyoming counties, which were in the red zone on the state’s color-coded map, will not be open for in-person instruction this week.

Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Marshall, Mingo, Ohio, Pocahontas, Putnam, Taylor, Wayne and Wood counties were in the orange category and will also be remote learning-only.

Additionally, Upshur County, as of Saturday evening, is the only county that voluntarily entered the red designation to offer remote learning-only.

The COVID-19 Data Review Panel also announced that seven counties shifted in their color zones. They included:

Hancock County: Moved from orange to gold due to data validation and one case updated with the correct county of residence.
Harrison County: Moved from gold to orange due to data validation, 14 cases updated to confirmed status and two cases updated with the correct county of residence.
Jefferson County: Moved from gold to orange due to data validation and one case updated to confirmed status.
Logan County: Moved from yellow to green due to data validation and lab results updated to the correct county of residence.
Ritchie County: Moved from orange to red due to turning red on the DHHR 10:00am Saturday map.
Upshur County: Moved from yellow to gold due to data validation, eight cases updated to confirmed status and two cases updated with the correct county of residence.

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, Boone, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Marshall, Mingo, Ohio, Pocahontas, Putnam, Taylor, Wayne, Wood

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.

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 45,845 total cases of the virus and 718 deaths. More than 15,700 cases are considered active. In the past 24 hours, more than 790 new cases have been identified in the state.