Ohio County Officials Report 85th COVID-19 Death | News, Sports, Jobs

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department reported one new COVID-19-related death in Ohio County in its Wednesday night update. That marked the 85th such death in the county since the pandemic began.

The department also announced eight new positive COVID cases in the county as of Wednesday night, pushing that total to 4,300. Two of those cases are what is commonly known as the UK Variant of the virus. There have been 30 cases of the UK Variant, a more communicable version of the virus, found in Ohio County as of Wednesday.

The Marshall County Health Department reported eight new confirmed positive and nine new probable COVID-19 cases in its Wednesday night update. That department is sending people to the Department of Health and Human Services website for its latest totals, which were 2,451 confirmed cases, 885 probable cases and 76 related deaths since the pandemic began.

Half of the four Northern Panhandle counties were green, the safest category on the DHHR COVID-19 alert map, and the other half was yellow, the second-safest category, on Wednesday. Hancock and Ohio counties were green, while Brooke and Marshall counties were yellow.

Hancock County had an infection rate of 9.92 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 2.12. Brooke County had an infection rate of 15.63 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 3.49.

Ohio County had an infection rate of 16.21 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 2.41. Marshall County had an infection rate of 19.65 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 3.63.

In Ohio, the Belmont County Health Department reported 6,080 confirmed cases in Belmont County and 116 related deaths since the start of the pandemic.