West Virginia Confirms First Omicron Variant COVID-19 Case, Preps for More
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WHEELING -- One case of the omicron variant of COVID has been reported in West Virginia, and state officials are bracing for more.
Dr. Clay Marsh, West Virginia COVID czar, made the announcement near the start of Gov. Jim Justice's virtual COVID briefing with state reporters on Thursday.
State officials said they learned from the Centers for Disease Control of the one omicron case in West Virginia just 20 minutes before the start of Justice's briefing, and they were still pulling data from the information. State officials said that the case has been identified as an unvaccinated person in Marion County.
But Marsh predicted more omicron cases would be coming in the state at an increasing rate.
In other states, the number of omicron cases has doubled every 1½ days, according to Marsh. While the virus appears to cause milder cases of COVID, it can still cause death in unvaccinated, older and immunocompromised patients, he said.
"We are in the bullseye of a very large storm coming right at us," he said. "It is so important ... it is really important we protect our state before we are really underwater."
Marsh encouraged all not vaccinated or receiving booster shots to do so, and to also have themselves tested if they experience COVID symptoms. The discovery announced Thursday of the one omicron case in West Virginia came not from state research, but from a private lab and CDC surveillance, Marsh explained.
"The CDC has a surveillance system, and they work with companies like Labcorp (in Wheeling) that do some testing in West Virginia, as well as other states," he said.
The labs do sequencing to determine which form of the COVID virus is present in the sample.
Most cases are sequenced by state researchers, usually at West Virginia University or Marshall University, he said.
"This positive case -- this omicron case -- was identified by one of the private groups and reported back to the CDC as they did their work on sequencing the virus," Marsh explained.
As of Thursday, the state researchers had not determined any omicron cases in West Virginia, he said.
"We are confident very soon we will start to see the omicron variant in other samples," Marsh added.
Marsh was asked if the presence of the omicron variant and the dangers of it rapidly spreading should give people pause as they plan holiday gatherings with friends and families next week.
"We should be very cognizant of the issue of maintaining our own health, and also protecting our community and families -- especially our elders who may be more susceptible to getting sick with COVID-19," he said. "That translates to saying if you are with your immediate family -- the people you live with -- that should be fine."
But if someone is going to a gathering where there are people who are more susceptible to illness, who are older, immunocompromised or unvaccinated, the visitor should take care, according to Marsh.
"It's not great news, but we knew it was coming, did we not?" Justice said of the omicron variant in West Virginia. "It's running across the whole country, and across the entire globe.
"We knew it was coming, but what do we do?"
Justice said Pfizer, a manufacturer of COVID vaccines, has reported that persons getting booster vaccinations have a 25-times greater immunity against the virus.
"I don't care what you are doing. There is nothing more important than getting your booster shot," Justice said.
Justice announced an additional 28 people had died of COVID in West Virginia since Tuesday, bringing the state's total to 5,142 deaths.