Changing colors: Orange dominating W.Va. alert map, followed by red

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Orange is sweeping over the West Virginia county alert map with red being the second most frequent color.

The state Department of Human Resource’s shared the latest map Thursday that shows 28 counties in orange: Kanawha, Putnam, Cabell, Fayette, Lincoln, Wayne, Wyoming, Mercer, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Webster, Braxton, Calhoun, Wayne, Wirt, Ritchie, Pleasants, Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Taylor, Wetzel, Grant, Hardy, Jefferson, Marshall, Brooke and Hancock.

Eleven counties were in red: Nicholas, Raleigh, Boone, Mingo, Jackson, Wood, Preston, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan and Berkeley.

On the map shared the previous day, 20 counties had been in orange and 14 in red. Red indicates the most spread of coronavirus in a county, while orange is the second most severe.

Eight counties were in gold: Logan, Mason, Clay, Tyler, Doddridge, Upshur, Randolph and Ohio.

Four counties were in yellow: McDowell, Summers, Monroe and Gilmer.

Four counties were in green: Pendleton, Tucker, Lewis and Monongalia.

Active virus cases in the state had been dropping, but were up 165 on Thursday and were at 8,634. The number of deaths continues to rise with the total at 4,238. Hospitalizations are at 714 with 211 in intensive care and 128 on a ventilator.