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COVID Deaths Continue, Hospitalizations Drop in West Virginia

WHEELING -- West Virginia COVID-19 case numbers are at their lowest point in two years, but nearly 100 people in the state have died from the virus since Gov. Jim Justice's last COVID briefing Monday.

Justice reported an additional COVID-related 98 deaths Friday, bringing the state's total since the spring of 2020 to 6,550.

"Ninety-eight deaths -- that's not good," Justice said. "It's beyond not good."

Other numbers give state officials hope that pandemic conditions continue to improve.

The number of active COVID cases in West Virginia was at 1,432 on Friday, according to State Department of Health and Human Resources data. That figure represented the first time since July 23, 2021, that there were fewer than 1,500 COVID cases in West Virginia, according to Justice.

The number of COVID hospitalizations throughout the state is reported at 312, with 78 patients in intensive care units and 50 on respirators. Fifty-three of West Virginia's 55 counties are listed in green, the safest category on the DHHR alert map, with Webster County shown as gold and Wirt County in yellow.

"Our numbers are down to where they were in January 2021," DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said. "This is not over, but this is a great trend. We're moving in the right direction."

He acknowledged the pandemic situation "is improving."

"But we're not there yet," Crouch said. "We still have this virus to deal with. We still have positive cases. We still have a lot of deaths."

He said it has been a challenge to maintain a balance between public thought about the virus and public safety. Crouch noted Friday marked two years to the day that the World Health Organization declared a COVID pandemic.

"We've gone up and down a couple times. We hope we're doing better than we were," he said.

Justice and his team were asked Friday whether there was a need to reduce the number of COVID testing centers in the state.

"We continue to assess what we need to provide for the good people of West Virgnia," Dr. Clay Marsh, the state's COVID "czar" said. "Although we are moving in the right direction, we also need to be cognizant that we are not done with the pandemic yet."

The potency of COVID vaccines wanes over time, he continued. In addition, the number of people getting vaccine boosters - especially the oldest in the population - could be improved, according to Marsh.

He said if the trend continues toward fewer COVID cases in the state, state officials will consider reducing the number of testing sites.