MORGANTOWN — The state’s total COVID death toll dropped over the weekend. After Friday’s COVID briefing from the governor’s office the number stood at 6,835.
Tuesday’s figure was 6,716. Gov. Jim Justice read off 11 new deaths. But 122 deaths from 2021 listed as COVID deaths were, in fact, not related to COVID, he said on Tuesday, so they were removed from the total.
Public Health Commissioner Ayne Amjad explained that the change is part of an ongoing reconciliation process of comparing COVID death reports to death certificates. The 2021 reconciliation is complete and they are working to get up-to-date for this year.
The state’s numbers continue to improve: 263 active cases, 135 in hospitals, 38 in ICUs, 22 on ventilators.
But COVID-19 czar Dr. Clay Marsh again warned this could be a lull before the BA.2 omicron variant takes off. Cases are going up and it’s now the most common variant for any new case in the U.S.
Europe saw BA.2 cases rise, he said, followed by a rise in hospitalizations and deaths. The U.S. is just at the beginning of that, with cases going up in certain areas, particularly in the northeast.
Marsh took a question about 12 known BA.2 hot spots across the country, not just the northeast but in two neighboring states — eastern Kentucky and northwest Virginia.
Marsh said the best protection is to get vaccinated and boosted.
More information is becoming available, he said, about long COVID — the long-term consequences of acquiring the virus.
Some studies show, he said, that people who’ve had mild symptoms have a 20% likelihood of having some persistent health problems; that rises to 40% for those who’ve had severe illness and been in an ICU or on a ventilator.
Some studies show COVID-related brain changes may be chronic, he said. A new United Kingdom study of 800 people showed that 20% of those with mild COVID had heart abnormalities; six months later, 58% of them had persistent heart abnormalities.
“Given the situation, there is no better time to make sure you are fully vaccinated,” he said.
Marsh reminded everyone that the state has created a vaccine due date calculator that can be found at vaccinate.wv.gov.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
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