MORGANTOWN — It’s not time for the whole state to re-mask yet, Gov. Jim Justice said again Friday.
“I see no need to absolutely put out any kind of level of executive [order] to mandate face coverings at this time,” he said. “We’re going to leave that to the local control.”
He does want to leave mandates on the table, should the numbers get worse — for instance, every county goes red, he said.
Justice cited the turmoil in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning local mask mandates. “You’ve basically got a mandate against a mandate,” he said, and he doesn’t want to spark massive division here. “This is not a one-size-fits-all deal.”
The Hill reported Friday morning that more than 800 Florida physicians called on DeSantis Thursday to repeal his executive order as the state continues to see a record number of new COVID-19 cases.
Justice also commented on the FDA’s Thursday announcement about vaccine booster shots. The FDA said it’s amended the emergency use authorizations for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to allow for the use of an additional dose in certain immunocompromised individuals. The CDC’s Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met Friday and voted unanimously to approve the boosters. The CDC was expected to adopt the recommendation later Friday.
Justice said the state will be ready to move as soon as CDC has added its approval.
Joint Interagency Task Force Director Gen. James Hoyer said they are planning and coordinating with county health departments and other partners to roll out boosters when the OK is given.
Justice played a video assembled by his staff touting the Do It For Babydog vaccine incentive lottery.
“I can’t tell you how successful I think the program was,” he said. Almost 200,000 people have been vaccinated since its launch.
The Department of Health and Human Resources’ coronavirus dashboard is showing a more-positive vaccine trend. We’ve previously reported that the chart shows peak and valleys, with low weekend numbers climbing to midweek peaks. Those peaks had been growing smaller for a while but then began rising again. From 1,447 on July 22, they rose to 1,699 July 30 and 2,112 Aug. 5. Wednesday saw another dip, at 1,580 doses.
As of Friday, 69.5% of the eligible population age 12 and older had a first dose, and 57.2% were fully vaccinated.
Active cases keep climbing, from 4,010 Sunday to 5,312 Friday; 312 were hospitalized with 109 in ICUs. Confirmed Delta cases stood at 317, with 62 in Berkeley County and 26 in Monongalia. Harrison has 22, Marion has 18 and Preston has three.
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh said the nation is seeing an average of 100,000 new cases per day and the number of deaths has doubled in the last couple weeks. Younger people continue to take the brunt of the surge: hospitalizations of older people is down about 75% while hospitalizations of younger people has risen by about the same amount, with the 30-39 age group seeing a bigger surge than ever.
More young and healthy people who are unvaccinated are going into ICUs and onto ventilators, he said. He cited the examples of two sick moms who delivered their babies early. One was able to see her baby once before she died; the other has seen her newborn only via Zoom.
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