MORGANTOWN — COVID hospitalizations have tripled since Thanksgiving, a new variant is on the loose, and Gov. Jim Justice is rebranding his twice-weekly briefings in acknowledgement of the new normal.
COVID hospitalizations stood at 360 on Wednesday, up from 114 on Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving. ICU cases stood at 56, up from 15 on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.
Ventilator cases have remained relatively static, at 17 on Wednesday. On June 15 they reached a low of two cases and then on Sept. 18 a high of 18; 17 is the highest number since that date.
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh said a new omicron variant, XBB.1.5 — descended from BA.2 — has become the most-common variant in the country. In the Northeast, it make up 75% of new cases, and about 41% of new cases across the rest of the country, doubling its impact in the past week. When it reaches West Virginia, case numbers will climb here.
XBB.1.5, Marsh said, features a critical mutation in its spike protein — the little projections that bind the virus to the body’s cell receptors — that enables it to invade and infect the cell. It’s good at evading the immune system and is not inhibited by monoclonal antibodies.
That makes it all the more important, he said, to keep up to date on vaccine boosters — which reduce the likelihood of serious illness and death.
COVID case numbers stood at 1,439 on Wednesday, a steady climb from the most-recent low of 933 on Dec. 12. The death toll was 7,687.
Rebranded briefings
Justice segued into his announcement of new-style briefings by recalling he’s been doing them for nearly three years (his first was March 4, 2020, and he began daily briefings on March 11).
But the state of emergency he declared on March 16, 2020, he said, came to an end on Sunday. So he will retool his briefings and rename them Justice Administration Update Briefings.
People who’ve followed the briefings regularly know they’ve long been a blend of COVID and politics, and that will essentially continue, with more focus on politics. Justice said he’ll still honor those lost to COVID with his regular reading of the list of those lost, and will provide updates as needed.
But they will also include appearances by cabinet secretaries, he said, and news of what’s going on — “Hopefully good things going on around the state.” If COVID worsens, he’ll refocus again.
Justice also announced the appointment of a new state health officer and public health commissioner. Dr. Matt Christiansen will succeed former Commissioner Ayne Amjad, who stepped down at the end of last year but remains part of the Justice team in an advisory capacity.
Christiansen will leave his post as director of the Office of Drug Control Policy. He also serves as associate professor in the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Health, where he practices primary care and addiction medicine.
And some politics
On Tuesday, Justice announced that General Revenue collections for December 2022 were $145.6 million above estimates and 9% ahead of prior-year receipts. Year-to-date record collections are $833 million above estimate.
He followed up on that during Wednesday’s briefing, hinting at economic development and tax cut announcements to be made during his State of the State Address on Jan. 11. “We’ll be announcing the biggest tax cuts in the history of the state, hands down.”
Justice fielded several questions about how these cuts might be achieved, given the ongoing boondoggle: He and the House favoring a personal income tax cut; the Senate favoring a business tax cut (the Senate’s proposed cut met strong voter opposition with the overwhelming defeat of Amendment 2 in November).
Justice said he tried to talk to Senate leaders before the election, but got no response. “I stand ready to talk, to compromise, to do the work of the people. … I am dead ready to do that. I’ve been ready to do that all along.”
He reiterated that the income tax proposal puts money in residents’ pockets while the business tax proposal favors big business.
The 2023 legislative also starts on Jan. 11.
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