WV and National Disaster News - December 8, 2021

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WEST VIRGINIA

Government

WV Daily COVID Update & Stats for December 8, 2021 (WV DHHR) - There have been 15 deaths reported since the last report (12/7/21), with a total of 5,036 deaths attributed to COVID-19.  DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 69-year old female from Greenbrier County, a 70-year old male from Mineral County, a 67-year old male from Harrison County, a 66-year old male from Grant County, a 77-year old female from Nicholas County, a 57-year old male from Kanawha County, a 66-year old female from Greenbrier County, a 74-year old male from Jackson County, a 94-year old male from Mingo County, a 78-year old male from Marshall County, a 61-year old female from Barbour County, a 71-year old male from Wetzel County, an 82-year old female from Brooke County, and an 88-year old male from Jackson County. Included in the total deaths reported on the dashboard as a result of the Bureau for Public Health’s continuing data reconciliation with the official death certificate is a 71-year old female from Jefferson County.  This death occurred in November 2021.

“With a heavy heart, we share this solemn news of more lives lost to this pandemic and extend our sympathies to the families impacted,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. “If you are eligible, please schedule your COVID vaccine or booster today.”

Local

• West Virginia reaches 5,000 covid-19 deaths — most over a recent three-month period (MetroNews-Radio)
• State Surpasses 5,000 COVID Deaths As New Cases Increase in W.Va. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting-Radio)
• Kanawha County pandemic death total at 495 with reporting of additional death (WCHS-TV)
• Wood County Schools requesting parents who filed a law suit against its mask mandate to pay for legal fees (WTAP-TV)
• Director: CPS ‘At Breaking Point’ (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register)
• Mercer County Health Department given go-ahead to resume vaccinations (WVNS-TV)
• W.Va., six other states win court victory to block vaccine mandate for federal contractors (WCHS-TV)
• West Virginia Attorney General fights federal COVID vaccine mandates (WOWK-TV)
• Lawmakers look at mitigating the next major flood  (The Journal)
• W.Va. lawmakers find out during meeting RISE WV program is under federal investigation (WCHS-TV)
• Rural Development invests $845k in grants for climate-smart infrastructure (WDTV-TV)
• Mine Reclamation, Clean Water and Broadband: What the Infrastructure Law Brings to Appalachia (West Virginia Public Broadcasting-Radio)

NATIONAL NEWS

COVID

• 19 U.S. states now have detected the omicron COVID-19 variant (National Public Radio)
• A first, small study suggests Omicron is a larger threat to Covid-19 immunity than other variants (Stat)
• Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron (The Associated Press)
• Omicron Doesn’t Evade Three Doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine in Early Study, Companies Say  (The Wall Street Journal)
• Omicron boosters are in the works, but will they be needed? (National Public Radio)
• New Covid Pills Offer Hope as Omicron Looms (The New York Times)
• Growing use of home Covid-19 tests leaves health agencies in the dark about unreported cases (Stat)

OTHER

• Major outage hits Amazon Web Services; many sites affected (WCBC-Radio)

WEATHER

• Homes Flooded, Roads Blocked in Heavy Hawaii Rainfall (The Weather Channel)
• Senator Mendes and others have slept in tents outside the R.I. State House for a week. Now, a storm is coming (The Boston Globe)
• What will happen to FEMA trailers once the federal emergency housing programs ends?  KTVL News 10 (Oregon)