KINGWOOD — Preston County has seen a significant decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days, but the virus is still around.
That’s what Preston County Health Department Administrator V.J. Davis told the county commission at its meeting on Tuesday.
“For the last couple months, we have had a huge increase in cases with omicron,” Davis said. “We are seeing a huge drop off in cases; our status the last few days has been yellow. And the last seven days, we have had 93 new cases, zero deaths.”
Davis said the hope is the county doesn’t see another increase — but the one thing they’ve learned from COVID is that it’s unpredictable.
He said the health department still offers vaccine clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment. Additionally, transportation is offered for those who need it and shots are delivered to the homebound.
“So basically anybody that wants one is able to get one at this point in time, they just need to give us a call,” Davis said.
The Preston County Health Department’s number is 304-329-0096.
In total, 125 Prestonians have died from COVID-19. To put that in perspective, over the past five years the flu has killed about 15 people annually.
“So this definitely has taken a toll on Preston County,” Davis said
COVID is still out there, it’s not going to disappear, and people should be cautious, he said.
One thing that hasn’t change since day one is how the disease’s severity can vary. For some, it’s the sickest they’ve ever been. Others, Davis said, hardly get sick at all.
Gov. Jim Justice has discussed classifying COVID as an endemic, rather than a pandemic, which would mean it would be treated more like the flu, Davis said. However, that decision hasn’t been made yet.
None of the commissioners had questions about the update.
“Everybody’s questioned out when it comes to COVID,” Davis said.
