CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — West Virginia’s blitz to inoculate elderly residents, along with a strategy to identify the ill and treat them with antibodies, is now clearly driving the state’s strategy to combat COVID-19.
The days of widespread or targeted shutdowns appear gone, just as in most other states.
But the stakes seem no less than they were previously, and many would argue they’re much higher.
The Mountain State’s per-capita toll from COVID-19 is 93, which means that many West Virginians have died per 100,000 since the March beginning of the pandemic here.
Unless recent trends reverse, West Virginia could cross the 100-deaths-per-capita mark within the next week or two.
And already, West Virginia has a higher per-capita death toll than Hawaii, Vermont, Alaska, Maine, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire, Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, North Carolina, California, Ohio, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado.
West Virginia’s deaths per day per capita over the most recent seven-day period was seventh worst nationally at 10.4, according to The Washington Post, and was well above the national average of 7.1.
West Virginia’s total of 1,671 deaths is better than was projected early in the pandemic, by about two months. But the state’s death rate has climbed much faster than many other states of late, including bordering Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia.
“You know, in West Virginia we have done, I think, amazingly well, given where we had the potential to go,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, vice president and executive dean for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at West Virginia University.
“[The] Kaiser Family Foundation, as you remember, rated us as the most vulnerable state at the beginning of the pandemic. And our projection from the University of Washington’s data projection center for COVID deaths was about 1,500 to 1,600 by Nov. 1,” said Marsh, who also leads the state’s medical response to the virus.
“And we’re really proud of the great work of all of our teams and certainly the governor’s leadership. We owe a debt of gratitude to the National Guard, to DHHR and others and folks that are leading the Joint Interagency Task Force,” Marsh said Wednesday.
“But I think that this is the more foundational issue that we should really start to think about: You know, there are a lot of people that are very scared right now and worried about COVID, many different beliefs out there, but the key for us is we’ve been able to stay together,” he said.
“We’ve been able to operate as a team, as a unit. And I think that at the leadership level, that’s also been a critical success factor. And so as we look at where we’re going, it’s really important that we are committed to getting vaccine to every West Virginian’s arm,” Marsh said.
“We know that even as of today, our average age of somebody dying of COVID-19 is 77 years old. We know that we have about 240,000 West Virginians who are over 70 years old, about 80,000 West Virginians over 80 years old and about 130,000 or so West Virginians between 65 and 70 years old. We know that West Virginians over 70 years old account for 77.5% of the people dying,” he said.
“So absolutely, we are committed to not only help vaccinate people in our other prioritized areas, like teachers and healthcare workers, certainly nursing home residents, which has been so important, which account for about half of our deaths as we’ve said before, but really push those vaccines to our absolute most vulnerable people,” Marsh said.
The other part of the strategy — testing and treatment — remains paramount because vaccine rollout, no matter how fast or efficient, is going to take time, West Virginia’s leaders have indicated and national reports have underscored.
“I remind everybody again about being 65 and older: If you get a sniffle or a headache or you feel exhausted or whatever, surely if you lose your sense of smell or taste, absolutely run to the fire, go get a test,” Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday. “Absolutely get a test. If you’re tested positive, the antibodies will save your life. You have got to treat it like a heart attack or stroke and run to the fire. That’s all there is to it. If you have any anxiety or any, any symptom at all, go get tested.”
West Virginia’s latest COVID-19 numbers showed a 9.09% daily positivity over 11,350 tests; 27,982 active cases, meaning about 1 in every 64 state residents has the virus; and a 5.44% cumulative percent positivity.
According to The Washington Post, West Virginia’s seven-day rolling average of daily new reported cases per capita has fallen 7%, putting it among a handful of other states seeing a drop in that category. The state’s COVID-19 reproductive rate also has fallen to .93, meaning West Virginia now has the third-lowest number in that category after recently being near the highest.
State COVID-19 hospital numbers remain high: 765 in hospital, 204 of those in intensive care and 101 of those on ventilators.
Justice also indicated Wednesday that state officials now may not follow through with a plan to tweak the orange and red metrics in the state’s County Alert System map.
As for the most recent fatalities, the Department of Health and Human Resources has confirmed the deaths of an 81-year old female from Wood County, a 75-year-old male from Berkeley County, a 70-year-old female from Brooke County, a 77-year-old female from Wood County, a 96-year-old female from Kanawha County, a 69-year-old male from Berkeley County, a 72-year-old female from Pendleton County, an 87-year-old female from Wood County, a 60-year-old male from Hancock County, a 54-year-old male from Kanawha County;
An 80-year-old male from Raleigh County, a 74-year-old female from Boone County, an 89-year-old male from Cabell County, a 72-year-old female from Logan County, an 88-year-old male from Ohio County, a 78-year-old female from Mason County, a 58-year-old male from Boone County, a 68-year-old male from Hancock County, an 81-year-old male from Kanawha County, a 73-year-old male from Pleasants County;
A 79-year-old female from Mineral County, a 73-year-old female from Ritchie County, a 77-year-old male from Hancock County, an 82-year-old female from Cabell County, a 74-year-old female from Hardy County, an 86-year-old female from Hampshire County, a 77-year-old male from Pleasants County, a 68-year-old male from Hancock County, a 76-year -ld female from Upshur County, a 77-year-old female from Kanawha County;
a 45-year-old female from Wayne County, a 93-year-old female from Hancock County, a 73-year-old female from Lewis County, an 83-year-old female from Berkeley County, a 67-year-old male from Kanawha County, a 71-year-old female from Marion County, and a 96-year-old male from Summers County.
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