CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State InterAgency TaskForce Director Jim Hoyer says if COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise in West Virginia, the state won’t have enough staff to address the current summer wave.
“Back during earlier surges, we had the ability to manage about 800 patients statewide, but because of staffing challenges as well as surges that occur during these months, that number for COVID is now 500 so we’ll continue to monitor that,” Hoyer said during Gov. Jim Justice’s media briefing Tuesday.
The state reported an increase in COVID hospitalizations at 312 on Tuesday, up from 285 on Monday.
There’s now a renewed concern hospitalizations will rise given the threat of the new BA.5 subvariant of COVID-19 that state Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh described as “highly infectious.”
Hoyer said the state is being even more proactive and are keeping in contact with hospitals to address needs as BA.5 spreads nationwide. As of Tuesday, there were no reported cases of BA.5 in West Virginia.
“We’re increasing the frequency of our coordination calls with our hospitals, long term care organizations as well as our community health clinics,” he said.
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and staying up to date on booster shots is key to preventing further more hospitalizations, Hoyer said.
“If you’ve had a second shot, get a third shot,” he said. “We know that the numbers show that it is important. It is not about preventing you now from getting this. This is about protecting you from serious illness and death.”
Hoyer said it’s unlikely the state will quickly hit the 500 mark on hospitalizations.
“The trend line is moving at a much lower rate than what we saw during Delta and original Omicron surges in the past,” he said.
Active cases in West Virginia currently stand at 2,817.
The BA.5 subvariant accounts for two thirds of new cases in the U.S.