WV and National Disaster News - February 9, 2022

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WEST VIRGINIA

COVID

WV Daily COVID Update & Stats for February 9, 2022 (WV DHHR) - there have been 39 deaths reported since the last report (2/8/22), with a total of 5,939 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 66-year old male from Wood County, a 68-year old male from Cabell County, a 99-year old male from Barbour County, an 82-year old male from Harrison County, a 66-year old female from Mason County, a 94-year old male from Kanawha County, a 51-year old female from Harrison County, a 52-year old male from Wood County, a 66-year old female from Kanawha County, a 91-year old female from Wood County, a 70-year old female from Monongalia County, a 68-year old male from Jefferson County, an 87-year old female from Kanawha County, a 90-year old male from Nicholas County, an 87-year old female from Wirt County, a 43-year old female from Kanawha County, a 93-year old male from Wetzel County, a 78-year old male from Mason County, an 83-year old female from Putnam County, a 72-year old female from Jefferson County, a 72-year old male from Putnam County, a 63-year old male from Upshur County, a 56-year old male from Fayette County, a 92-year old male from Wood County, a 79-year old female from Nicholas County, a 75-year old female from Kanawha County, a 20-year old male from Kanawha County, a 50-year old female from Calhoun County, a 76-year old male from Wetzel County, a 64-year old male from Wetzel County, a 94-year old female from Monongalia County, a 60-year old male from Kanawha County, a 70-year old female from Preston County, a 65-year old male from Wood County, an 83-year old male from Mercer County, a 77-year old male from Barbour County, an 83-year old female from Marshall County, and a 71-year old male from Mason 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 an 87-year old female from Kanawha County.  This death occurred in January 2022. “The COVID vaccine is safe, free and available in every county across our state,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.  “I urge all West Virginians who are eligible for the vaccine or booster shot to schedule an appointment today.”

• Omicron falling dramatically: Officials hopeful as surge numbers 'moving down aggressively' (The Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
• Active COVID-19 cases fall again in W.Va.; 23 more deaths reported (WCHS-TV)
• Two more COVID-19 deaths announced in Kanawha (WCHS-TV)
• Some WPHS Students Separated by Masked, Unmasked (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register)
• Wood County Schools end mask mandate (WTAP-TV)
• Reopening ceremony scheduled for Saint Francis Hospital's emergency department (WCHS-TV)
• Bluefield State College receives $200k COVID-19 grant (WVVA-TV)
• Capito, Manchin to expand telehealth services in WV (WBOY-TV)
• Hospitals react to measure forbidding vaccine proof for entry (MetroNews-Radio)

WEATHER

• Mason County roads await repairs, continue to recover from snow and ice (WSAZ-TV)
• Marshall County residents finally seeing power, water restoration following winter storm (MetroNews-Radio)

OTHER

• West Virginia DEP checks area streams after oil spill in Boone County Saturday (WCHS-TV)
• West Virginia is allocated unprecedented amount to clean up abandoned mine lands (MetroNews-Radio)
• Justice Signs Bill To End Nuclear Power Ban (West Virginia Public Broadcasting-Radio)
• Plugging Away: WVU studying integration of renewable energy with U.S. power grid (The Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

NATIONAL NEWS

COVID 

• Mask mandates, contact tracing are going away, as states shift to new phase (Politico)
• Johnson & Johnson halts production of single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, report says (CBS News)
• Pfizer to study COVID-19 pill for kids (WDBJ-TV)
• Biden officials trying to recalculate U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations  (Politico)
• NIH-funded study suggests COVID-19 increases risk of pregnancy complications (National Institutes of Health)
• Federal Efforts to Provide Vaccines to Racial and Ethnic Groups (General Accountability Office)
• U.S. funding to now cover study of Novavax's COVID-19 shot in adolescents (Reuters)
• Economists Examine the Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Mortality (Infection Control Today)
• What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID telemedicine (National Public Radio)
• Two years into pandemic, politicians still getting tripped up over coronavirus restrictions (The Washington Post)
• Asia sees a spike in COVID-19 cases after Lunar New Year celebrations (National Public Radio)
• OPINION: Polio, Chickenpox, Measles … Covid-19? The Case for Vaccine Mandates in Schools. (The New York Times)
• OPINION: The Supreme Court is partly to blame for the Covid-19 test kit shortage (STAT)

OTHER

• FEMA unveils text to find shelter feature - (KALB News) - Finding a safe place during a natural disaster could be just a text message away. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has launched an updated version of its text feature.

• An unexpected item is blocking cities' climate change prep: obsolete rainfall records (National Public Radio)