Saturday, March 19, was a day of note for Putnam County. It was the first day since July of 2020 in which there were zero new cases of Covid-19 reported in the county.

Both active and new case numbers have been dropping since January. Active case numbers hit a seasonal high on January 23 with 902 reported by the DHHR. The active case number stood at 12 on Tuesday, March 22.

The Covid infection total (including re-infections) since the onset of the disease was 18,575 cases on Tuesday, March 22. Of that number, 18,389 individuals have recovered, 174 have died, and 12 remain stricken with Covid.

Two of the county’s deaths were during the last 7-day period ending on March 22. The DHHR reported the death of an 81-year old male in its March 18 report and the death of a 91-year-old male on March 22.

State Covid Czar Dr. Clay Marsh stated on Tuesday, March 22, that West Virginia was not necessarily out of the woods on Covid. Marsh said that a resurgence cannot be ruled out. Marsh reported that a variant of the Omicron variant is causing numbers to increase in the United Kingdom.

While Covid has yet to totally disappear, every West Virginia county with the exception of Webster was colored “green” on the DHHR Covid-Alert Map on Tuesday of this week.