File Photo WHEELING HOSPITAL CEO Douglass Harrison says the facility has a surge plan in place to deal with the recent increase of COVID-19 cases in the region. Harrison is shown here speaking during a past press conference.

MARTINS FERRY — As cases of COVID-19 continue to occur in the region, local hospitals must manage their available beds to ensure they can admit and help those who are sick with the disease.

Douglass Harrison, CEO of Wheeling Hospital, said Monday that despite the increase in people becoming infected, his hospital is handling the cases that come into the facility.

“We have seen an uptick in COVID cases, just like the rest of the state, but we are managing our bed utilization appropriately and have surge plans in place to help manage,” Harrison said.

“Also, we have a plan as part of WVU Medicine to effectively manage patients from a system perspective. We certainly are not overwhelmed.”

Karin Janiszewski, spokeswoman for WVU Medicine Barnesville Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale, said neither of those facilities is “experiencing a bed shortage or an uptick in hospitalizations.”

While doctors and scientists say most people who contract the disease do recover, more than 231,000 people in the United States have died from the virus since the pandemic began several months ago. Health officials continue to recommend that individuals stay 6 feet apart from people they do not live with and wear a mask while in public. Doing so helps prevent the spread of respiratory droplets that fly through the air when a person sneezes, coughs or even just talks, sings or laughs.

Frequent handwashing or the use of hand sanitizer also is recommended.

Local West Virginia counties, including Ohio and Marshall, recently were moved into higher categories of risk by state officials because of an increase in the number of cases confirmed there. This prompted local health officials to cancel trick or treat in several communities, though reports indicate that many people went ahead with their plans to either give or collect treats.

In Ohio, cases also are on the rise, though Belmont, Harrison and Jefferson counties remain at Level 2, or orange, on the state’s Public Health Advisory System. Monroe County is designated yellow, or Level 1. Noble County to the west is the only other county in the state that remains at Level 1, out of 88 counties.