West Virginia set a record number of daily cases of COVID-19 on Saturday with more than 1,800 confirmed infections, surpassing by more than 100 the daily maximum set more than nine months ago.
West Virginia on Saturday reported 1,821 new cases of coronavirus, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
According to The Associated Press, a one-day maximum of more than 1,700 cases was set for December 31st.
The number of COVID-19 cases in West Virginia has increased since early July, following a national trend.
The state averaged about 50 new cases a day in early July, before rising to 1,500 in early September, according to data compiled by The New York Times.
The state and national rise occurs as the highly infectious delta variant continues to spread across the United States.
The variant, which is more contagious than previous versions of the virus, is now the dominant strain in the US
However, vaccines have proven to be an effective tool to protect against serious COVID-19 disease. Most recent coronavirus-related hospitalizations and deaths have been in unvaccinated individuals.
Only 39.9 percent of West Virginia women are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which is linked to Wyoming by the country’s second worst state inoculation rate, according to data compiled by the Washington Post.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) announced in June that the state would donate weapons to residents who were vaccinated against COVID-19 as an incentive to encourage the community to inoculate.
Last week he made another request to be vaccinated, noting that state hospitals were full of individuals who have not been shot.
“Our hospitals are still overwhelmingly flooded with cases of people not being vaccinated,” Justice said.
“For God’s sake, how difficult is it to understand this? What we should do is right there in front of us. We just have to use common sense and get vaccinated, ”he added.