Gov. Jim Justice on Monday reported a continued decline in active COVID-19 cases in West Virginia. (Photo Courtesy of W.Va. Governor’s Office)

PARKERSBURG — Gov. Jim Justice said many COVID-19 statistics are improving, but the number of deaths remained high, during Friday’s online pandemic briefing.

“Our numbers and all that are getting much better,” he said after reading the ages and counties of residence of 58 people whose deaths had been attributed to the virus in the last two days. “Surely, it’s not good for those folks.”

Aside from a 30-year-old Wayne County man, Justice noted only two of the others were younger than 60.

“If you’re fully vaccinated and you’re 60 years old, you’re 50 years old, and you don’t get that booster, that’s nuts,” he said.

Justice noted that West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources statistics show 409,931 state residents have received booster shots.

“That’s not nearly as good as what we want it to be,” he said. “It’s better, but it’s just slow.”

Cases in the correctional system numbered 145 among inmates and 38 among staff.

“We surely want it to be zero, but at one time it was approaching well over a thousand, staff and inmates together,” Justice said.

A third round of federal pandemic electronic benefit transfer (P-EBT) assistance has been authorized, with West Virginia set to receive $82 million.

DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said the benefits, for children who qualify for free and reduced school lunches, will be distributed in April, retroactive to the start of the school year. There will be a single issuance for the fall and two for spring, he said.

“We’re hopeful that these payments will assist families in keeping children nourished and ready to learn,” Crouch said.

Justice welcomed the anticipated news Friday that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be relaxing its indoor masking recommendations.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus “czar,” said such a change appears to represent the CDC deciding that it did not make sense to maintain the same standards for masking with hospital and case numbers down and the more infectious nature of the omicron variant.

“I think that, as we go forward, what you will see is that there’s going to be a transition from governmental direction of people to empowerment of people at individual levels to be able to manage their own health and their own protection,” he said. “Being fully vaccinated and boosted is absolutely the best way that anyone can protect themselves from getting COVID, from getting sick, going to the hospital with COVID, dying of COVID and even being more susceptible to long COVID.”

Those in the most vulnerable age categories, with other medical conditions, “may decide that wearing a mask to protect yourself if you’re in indoor settings with other people that you don’t know might make sense,” he said.

The briefing got a late start because Justice was in a virtual meeting with U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, Rep. David McKinley and other state and federal officials about efforts to attract a hydrogen hub facility proposed as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Citing the potential energy benefits of the project, Justice said it is important for America to be energy independent. He pointed to the anticipated effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy prices as an example.

“I would challenge the Biden administration, it’s time to reset,” he said, suggesting projects like the Keystone XL and Atlantic Coast pipelines should be resumed.

Once energy independence is obtained, the nation should “absolutely tackle any climate issues that we have, in a smart and truly scientific way,” he said.