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Colder weather may bring with it an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, according to West Virginia’s coronavirus adviser on Thursday.
Studies from the United Kingdom indicate increases in cases and hospitalizations have occurred with the arrival of cooler weather, Dr. Clay Marsh said. Documented cases have increased 30% while hospitalizations have risen by 17%, he said.
“They have also done their own analysis and they believe this is not because of a new variant, it’s really because they are seeing waning immunity because not enough of their citizens have been vaccinated with the current booster shot, the omicron booster shot,” Marsh said.
People also are not taking the same precautions as before, Marsh said during Gov. Jim Justice’s pandemic briefing from the Capitol.
“So we want to make sure in West Virginia we continue to be very, very united in our hope that everyone who is eligible for an omicron booster shot, please get that shot,” Marsh said.
Statewide active cases of the virus were 1,146 on Thursday.
West Virginia recently began disbursing the latest omicon booster vaccines to health care providers.
Less than 2% of eligible residents of the United States have received the new omicron booster, he said. West Virginia is doing better than that, but many people 50 and older are at risk of severe outcomes “if you don’t stay up to date with the omicron booster shots,” he said.
Medications also are available if a test is positive for the virus, Marsh said.
“We also know that the omicron BA.5 variant, which is currently causing all the problems around the world including ongoing problems in the United States, is starting to give way to some other variants,” he said.
Health officials are keeping a close watch on the new variants, Marsh said.
“We watch all these variants to see if there is another bad actor, a different one that will be more severe, particularly with the winter months coming up,” Marsh said.