School of Public Health

The rate of COVID-19 positivity rates among young adults has been higher than other age groups during July and August. And, while the West Virginia University community is no stranger to doing its part to help suppress the positivity rate and keep others safe, there are significant factors that may result in WVU students letting down their guard when it comes to mitigation strategies – in particular, wearing a mask.

West Virginia University will resume in-person undergraduate classes on the Morgantown campus Monday, Sept. 28.

West Virginia University School of Public Health professor Lauri Andress is studying how chronic stress from living with racism and discrimination can lead to poorer health outcomes for Black mothers and their babies.

In-person classes will be canceled on West Virginia University’s Morgantown campus Tuesday, Sept. 8. Online classes will continue as usual, as will University operations. Staff and faculty should report to work as usual. Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 9, all undergraduate courses in Morgantown, with the exception of those Health Sciences courses with students already engaged in clinical rotation, will move online through Friday, Sept. 25. Graduate and professional courses will continue to be offered in person.

West Virginia University is providing additional COVID-19 data to help the campus and surrounding community have a better understanding of positive test results, monitoring and response protocols.

With anxiety and depression on the rise amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a West Virginia University-led study seeks to identify mental health issues and test online treatments among West Virginians at home – particularly those in rural areas, where access to clinical services is limited.

West Virginia University has completed baseline COVID-19 testing as part of its Return to Campus plan launched this summer. A total of 26,726 tests were collected from students and employees across the WVU System from July 20-Aug. 22. As anticipated, the number of positive test results rose on the Morgantown campus as testing volume increased over the last week to ten days. However, the total cumulative percent positive remains low at 0.64%.

A $658,000 Walmart Foundation grant to the West Virginia University Extension Service Family Nutrition Program will help West Virginians improve their health by increasing access to fresh, healthy, locally grown foods and research-based nutrition education.

Although declining reports of child abuse and neglect during the last few months may seem like good news, it raises a red flag to public health experts at West Virginia University and officials at the West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice, as social isolation can leave a victim with no outlet for escape.

More than 150 volunteers from throughout West Virginia have now completed Contact Tracing and Pandemic Response, a training developed by the West Virginia University School of Public Health and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.