West Virginia Officials: COVID-19 Pandemic Not Over
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President Joe Biden might have declared the pandemic phase of COVID-19 over, but Gov. Jim Justice and state health officials said their work continues with lessons from the pandemic helping them with other public health issues.
During an interview Sunday night on CBS' "60 Minutes," Biden was asked about the status of the national response to COVID-19, whose variants and subvariants continue to spread though with greatly reduced numbers of deaths and negative health outcomes.
"The pandemic is over," Biden told CBS News Correspondent Scott Pelley. "We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it, but the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so, I think it's changing."
"Oftentimes, I don't think President Biden has any idea what he's saying," Justice said when asked about Biden's comments during Justice's virtual briefing with reporters Monday. "I want to be super respectful to the presidency of the United States, but it is just crazy land in my book."
According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the state reported 1,850 active COVID cases as of Sunday, down by 30% from 2,654 active cases seven days ago and down 48% from a summertime peak of 3,549 active cases on Aug. 5. Active cases reported to DHHR do not include residents who test positive for COVID using at-home tests.
"I wouldn't say the pandemic is over. I would say it's maybe trending downward or hit a plateau," said Dr. Ayne Amjad, who recently announced she will step down as state health officer and commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Public Health as soon as a permanent replacement is appointed.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in West Virginia dropped by 25%, from 397 on Aug. 9 to 298 as of Monday. Only 49 patients are in intensive care units, down from 54 on Aug. 5. The state's highest daily death count since late winter was 12 on Aug. 14. The previous seven-day average for deaths in the state was three, with the current seven-day average sitting at zero.
State health officials continue to encourage all eligible West Virginians to get their booster COVID-19 vaccine doses, including the new bivalent COVID booster aimed at combating the latest omicron subvariant of the virus.
"If we just bundle everything up and say the pandemic is over ... more people will die," Justice said. "I know we're saving lives being here. If we just save one, that's enough, but I know we're saving lots more than just the one."