West Virginia has had 36 straight days of active Covid-19 cases dropping in the state, Gov. Jim Justice said during a briefing Monday.
New positive Covid-19 cases are down to 248 in the last 24 hours, marking the first time since Nov. 12 that confirmed active cases have been below 9,000, Justice said. There were 15 new Covid-19 deaths this week, bringing the state’s pandemic death toll to 2,263.
Three cases of a new Covid-19 variant have been confirmed in West Virginia, Justice said. The state’s chief health officer, Dr. Clay Marsh, said the variant cases originated in the UK.
Justice further stated that there has been a total of 435,972 administrations of the first and second doses of the vaccine.
Justice also said Monday that he has called on the state’s Board of Education to require in-person instruction five days per week for students in K through 8 grades.
On Friday, the governor lessened social distancing restrictions — increasing bar and restaurant capacity to 75% of seating. He also raised the capacity on small businesses and retail stores from two to four people per 1,000 square feet. Grocery stores may now have up to six people per 1,000 square feet. Justice also raised the state’s social gathering limit from 25 to 75 people.
Note: These numbers were released by the state of Virginia, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.