Hospitalizations near pandemic high in West Virginia; 519 inmate cases & 179 corrections staff infected

"It's important to recognize that our hospital numbers in West Virginia are going up," said Dr. Clay Marsh, the state's COVID czar. "Across the country in some of the earliest hit places, more urban, with the Omicron variant, there is a plateauing of some of the hospital numbers in those places. But, our number is rising up.

"We're at 980 people today with COVID-19 in West Virginia hospital beds, and we anticipate seeing that continue to rise. Remember, our all-time high number of hospitalized COVID patients is 1,012, and it's very likely we will exceed that at a time in which we are more challenged with short staffing than we've ever been before," Marsh said.

Most of those hospitalized now haven't been vaccinated, although some were, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said. But he added that he believes getting vaccinated "stacks the deck" in your favor.

Marsh cited new date from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that he said shows those 50 to 65 who are fully vaccinated and boosted are 44 times less likely to be hospitalized than those who aren't vaccinated. Those over 65 and fully vaccinated and boosted, meanwhile, are 49 times less likely to be hospitalized than those unvaccinated, Marsh said. 

"If you're over 50 and you're vaccinated, but you're not boosted, you still have a seventeen-fold increase protection against hospitalization," Marsh said, adding that the protection with full vaccination and a booster for those over 50 is "between 44 and 49 times less likely to be hospitalized.

Data from Israel showed that children who had received two vaccines had 50% the rate of infection with COVID then those who didn't have a vaccine, Marsh said.

The COVID czar also cited a study of 2,100 married couples that he said shows that "getting COVID looks like it has much more of a negative impact on the ability to get pregnant than being vaccinated," Marsh said.

During the Omicron surge, Marsh urged state residents to wear masks, and to upgrade from cloth masks. The best protection is from an authentic N95 mask; the second best the KN95; and third would be surgical masks, Marsh said. Those using cloth masks should consider using two layers and making sure to get a tight fit.

The governor said as of Friday, 121 National Guard members have been mobilized to help at 16 hospitals around the state. That total will be up to 200 by the end of the day, according to James Hoyer, the retired National Guard major general who runs the state's vaccine effort. Tabletop exercises earlier this month showed the potential need for deployment of up to 350 Guard members to assist hospital staff, Hoyer said.

The governor also pushed booster vaccines, asking "how in the world could you not get your booster shot" to those who received the initial course of vaccination via Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson.

The state's vaccine initiative has stalled dramatically, with only 234 getting shots Thursday, and with the seven-day vaccine average down to 496.

A total of 519 inmates now have COVID, while 179 staff have been infected, Justice said. There are 143 outbreaks in long-term care facilities and two church outbreaks.

"That's jumped way up, so we're on it," Justice said, adding that the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation had done a "wonderful job" controlling COVID outbreaks during the pandemic.

"We'll stay on top of it, because these people deserve our attention as well," Justice said.

The state's County Alert System Map has most states in red, with the rest in orange, except for Tucker, which is yellow. Red indicates the highest rate of infection, orange the second-highest. Yellow is the second-lowest; Tucker had been in green, the lowest infection category, a day previously.

"I can't recall seeing it worse than that," Justice said.