COVID-19 makes rapid comeback as flu seems to begin decline

A majority of West Virginia counties are once again seeing high community levels of COVID-19, including Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Taylor, Preston, Lewis, Upshur and Doddridge in North Central West Virginia, according to the CDC.

A new variant called XBB.1.5 quickly became the most prevalent in the United States, and it’s the most transmissible variant of COVID-19 yet. It is a derivative of the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, according to Dr. Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s COVID-19 czar.

The XBB variant is not susceptible to monoclonal antibodies, so those therapies are ineffective as a treatment for this particular variant of COVID-19, Marsh said.

“In the northeastern part of the country where this (variant) started, we see a substantial increase in hospitalizations,” he said.

A rise in hospitalizations for COVID-19 also is occurring in West Virginia.

Before Thanksgiving, there were about 114 people hospitalized with the virus in the state. On Friday, the state Department of Health and Human Resources reported there were 317 hospitalized, including 54 in ICUs and 19 on ventilators.

COVID cases among those tested at UHC have increased following the holiday season, and COVID-19 admissions to the hospital have increased from the single digits to the upper teens, according to Povroznik.

Marsh said it is unlikely that West Virginia has the prevalence of XBB seen in other parts of the country, so hospitalizations are likely to increase even further.

Marsh said the Omicron booster shot has shown to be beneficial against the XBB variant, and is the best way to protect against severe illness from the virus.

At the same time, influenza activity continues in the state despite a drop from high to moderate activity.

In the week ending Dec. 31, roughly one in five with symptoms who were tested for the flu at UHC were positive. All of those cases were flu A, according to Povroznik.

“Flu B tends to circulate later in the season,” he said.

For the past couple weeks, approximately 10 patients per week have been admitted to UHC with flu, he said.

As with COVID, the best protection against flu is with the flu vaccine, according to Povroznik.

Meanwhile, RSV, which saw a substantial comeback early in the season and strained children’s hospitals across the country, continued its decline. It remains present at elevated levels in the state, however, according to CDC data.