CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — Harrison County’s community risk level for COVID-19 escalated from medium to high in the Saturday update to the CDC’s risk map. COVID-19 infection rates have been on the rise in the U.S. over the past several weeks, and West Virginia is no exception.
The CDC reports high risk for COVID-19 in Harrison and other West Virginia counties.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Although far short of the levels seen in previous surges, hospitalizations across the state are increasing since bottoming out at 77 on April 20. In Friday’s update, there were 208 people hospitalized, including 35 in ICUs and seven on ventilators.
At United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, the number of COVID-19 patients is also increasing.
Nearly three weeks ago, the hospital saw a low of one patient hospitalized with the virus.
By Thursday, that had risen to 12. It rose again to 14 on Friday and 16 on Saturday.
Two of those hospitalized at the hospital on Saturday were in critical care, but none were on ventilators, according to Dr. Mark Povroznik, UHC’s vice president of quality and chair of infection control.
Dr. Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s COVID-19 czar, said mutations of the coronavirus are to blame.
“We are seeing the impact of the subvariants of Omicron,” he said
About 50% of those hospitalized with COVID across the nation are over age 70, and 80% are over age 50, Marsh said.
Marsh stressed the importance of this age group staying up to date on vaccinations. Only 5% of those eligible for a fourth MRNA vaccine dose in the U.S. have received the shot, according to Marsh.
Although fewer people are hospitalized now than at the peak of the pandemic, a majority of those admitted at UHC continue to be unvaccinated, Povroznik said.
“Looking back over the past 60 days, of 66 COVID patient admissions, of those who were vaccinated, only three have been under the age of 50,” he said.
The FDA is currently reviewing the emergency of use a new vaccine called Novavax for those 18 and older.
Moderna has also announced a new bivalent vaccine candidate.
“It may be a bit premature to speculate on local availability of Moderna’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine — a vaccine with two different targets, one against the original coronavirus strain and the second against the Omicron variant. It is certainly possible, with early favorable results showing the bivalent booster resulted in an eight-fold jump in the levels of Omicron-specific neutralizing antibodies compared to those who did not receive the booster,” Povroznik said.
Senior staff Writer JoAnn Snoderly can be reached at 304-626-1445, by email at jsnoderly@theet.com or on Twitter at @JoAnnSnoderly.
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