Daily COVID-19 Update

The Allegany County Health Department reports that the total cumulative COVID-19 case count for Allegany County is now at 551. The latest cases include a male child under the age of 10, four males and one female in their teens, three males and seven females in their 20s, one male and four females in their 30s, a male and female in their 40s, a male and two females in their 50s, and three males and a female in their 60s. None of the new cases have required hospitalization.

The Garrett County Health Department received five additional positive COVID-19 results, bringing the current county total positives to 88.

The new positive COVID-19 cases include:

• A female in her 20s, with symptoms, isolating at home

• A male in his 50s, no additional information available at this time

• A male in his 40s, with symptoms, isolating at home

• A male in his 20s, no additional information available at this time

• A male in his 50s, with symptoms, isolating at home

Paw Paw High School in Morgan County will be remote learning on Thu. Oct. 15, 2020. Paw Paw High School students will continue in remote learning on Thursday, October 15 and Friday, October 16.

Frankfort Middle School in Mineral County will be remote learning on Thu. Oct. 15, 2020 due to COVID-19.

Mineral County Schools and the Mineral County Health Department have received confirmation of an employee of Frankfort Middle School testing positive for COVID-19. The Mineral County Health Department is working closely with Mineral County Schools to identify any potential persons who may have had close contact with them including students, staff, family members and friends. Those that need to be quarantined will be contacted by the health department. Please understand that contact tracing and testing take time and that there are levels of contact: low, medium and high.

Exercising an abundance of caution, and to ensure comprehensive contract tracing and identification of impacted staff and students, Frankfort Middle School will be closed Thursday October 15th, this will be a distance learning day for students.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, everyone is urged to follow best health practices as issued by the Governor’s Executive Orders and outlined by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) guidance. This includes wearing face coverings, and practicing social distancing, hand washing and cleaning protocols regularly.

Those who feel they need to be tested, please contact your primary care provider, your local hospital or your local healthcare clinic. For more information about COVID-19 visit the DHHR at www.coronavirus.wv.gov or the CDC at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

For details about WVDE and DHHR guidance documents, visit https://wvde.us/COVID19.

In Mineral County there are 194 total cases, 18 are active, 172 recovered and there have been 4 total deaths

The Hampshire County Health Department confirmed one new positive COVID-19 case yesterday. Case investigation has been completed and contacts have been notified. The case is not related to the nursing home.

The current case count for Hampshire Co. is 116 confirmed, 2 probable, 4 active, and 1 death. One case is hospitalized at this time.

The Hardy County Health Department and Hardy County Office of Emergency Management has one additional confirmed case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Hardy County, making six active cases, with a total confirmed case count of 101. We have had one confirmed COVID-19 death. We currently have five patients in quarantine at home, following proper protocol to protect their neighbors and community. One patient is currently hospitalized due to severe symptoms of COVID-19. Due to privacy, additional information regarding the persons, area of residence, and travel history will not be disclosed. The Hardy County Health Department has completed the necessary contact tracing to ensure the safety of close contacts and to prevent additional transmission. Hardy County now has 94 individuals fully recovered, included in the total confirmed case count of 101.

There was one new case today from the community. We are in the process of notifying contacts as this case was reported this evening.

180 Total COVID Cases

• 173 confirmed Positive COVID cases

• 7 Probable COVID cases

• 154 Total Recovered

• 15 Active Cases. 3 are hospitalized at this time, all cases will remain active and in quarantine until a minimum of 10 days after diagnosis or symptom onset, AND no symptoms for 24 hours without medication.

• 11 Deaths, of these:

§ 8 Deaths listed as COVID related (6 from GRCC)

§ 3 others tested positive soon before dying from other causes and COVID was not determined to contribute to the death by the physician of record.

All Grant County School and Grant County Health Department Personnel remind parents to please monitor your children for any symptom of COVID every morning BEFORE sending them to school. If there is any question about a symptom, please call the Health Department or your private provider BEFORE sending the student to school.

If you have any symptoms (loss of taste or smell, fever, cough, muscle aches, cough, shortness of breath, headache or diarrhea) or have been told that you are a close contact to a positive case and are tested, please follow the instructions given at that time for self-isolation until test results are returned and you are instructed when to discontinue isolation.

Call Grant Memorial Hospital (304) 257 1026 and press 5 to speak to an ER nurse or Grove Street Health Center at 304-257-2451 to help determine if testing is indicated and instructions how to proceed.

Bedford County Total Cases: 309 Confirmed: 260  Probable: 49
Negative: 4,951 Cases per 100,000: 641.4 Deaths: 6  Deaths per 100,000: 12.5

Somerset County Total Cases: 279 Confirmed: 236 
Probable: 43 Negative: 11,258 Cases per 100,000: 377.3
Deaths: 3  Deaths per 100,000: 4.1

On Monday, October 19, 2020, Allegany County Public Schools will begin the implementation of the hybrid learning model for second grade students. Second graders will report to their bus stop for their normal pick-up time, and schools will be dismissed daily at 1:30 p.m.

Students in grade 2 will report to school Monday through Thursday on an A B A B schedule. A student’s last name will determine which days he/she will attend. Students with last names that begin A-L will attend school on Mondays and Wednesdays, and students with last names that begin M-Z will attend school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Friday will be a virtual day, and the current virtual day schedule will be followed. If a parent has elementary children with two different last names that would cause them to attend on different days, they should call the principal to arrange whether the siblings will attend on an A or B day.

Parents of second graders will be provided with their child’s in-person learning schedule for their grade level as well as with a parent letter, COVID-19 symptom checklist, and mask requirements and guidelines. Parents have also been informed that they had the right to “opt-out” of the in-person/hybrid learning model and have their child remain in a virtual learning environment. The deadline for completing the opt-out form was September 28, 2020.

As second grade students enter schools for in-person learning next week, these children will participate in a “Virtual School” facilitated by a certified teacher. A parent who has opted out of in-person/hybrid learning can select to “opt-in” at the end of nine-week marking period, with a start date activation for the next marking period.

Central office staff are currently working on logistical details for phasing in grades 3 and 4 students in the near future. Additional information will be forthcoming once staffing and schedules have been finalized.

Please keep in mind that hybrid learning structures are subject to change based on health metrics and guidance provided by the Allegany County Health Department. Any changes will be communicated to parents through the ACPS website and Blackboard notification system.