COVID cases still rising in Mercer, signs of decline elsewhere

Sep. 7—While state health officials expect the latest COVID-19 surge to plateau soon, cases are still rising in Mercer County.

Mercer was one of only two counties Tuesday in the gold on West Virginia's color-coded county alert system. The other county with a high transmission rate of the virus was Roane. The rest of West Virginia was either in the green or yellow, which means transmission rates of the virus are lower.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 191 cases of COVID-19 in Mercer County were considered active. That's up from last week and earlier this summer.

Part of the reason for the uptick in new cases is the spread of the more contagious BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which have demonstrated an ability to get around the protection provided by vaccines and natural immunity from previous infections.

During a virtual pandemic briefing Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice once again reiterated his belief that the current surge is approaching its peak. Cases have already started to plateau in other states, and the same should occur in West Virginia soon, the Republican governor predicted.

"It looks like this thing is starting to move that way," Justice said. "The map, as you can see, is looking better."

Justice is still pushing booster shots for all state residents. The new Omicron-booster shot is now available in West Virginia, and Justice is urging state residents who have already received their first four initial shots (the two original Pfizer or Moderna shots followed by the two original booster shots) to now take the new Omicron-specific booster (or fifth shot).

Although the current focus is on those individuals age 65 or over and nursing homes, Justice said anyone over the age of 12 who has already received their first four primary shots is now eligible for the new Omicron booster.

Hospitalizations in West Virginia are once again below 300, although many of those patients who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 also are vaccinated, according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard.

Breakthrough cases, or confirmed infections involving vaccinated individuals, also have increased in recent weeks. The number of breakthrough cases in the state currently stands at 121,694 infections with 1,078 breakthrough deaths involved vaccinated individuals.

So far 7,301 deaths in the state have been attributed to COVID-19.

Justice also announced Tuesday that Dr. Ayne Amjad would be stepping down from her post as state health officer in October. However, he said Amjad would continue to serve as a senior advisor on pandemic response issues.

"While she will be stepping down, she's not going anywhere," Justice said. "She will still be on the (virtual) briefings with us every time."

While most Republican governors no longer hold virtual pandemic briefings or regular press conferences to discuss COVID-19, Justice is still holding by-weekly virtual briefings. However, much of those virtual sessions are spent each week discussing other issues that are unrelated to the pandemic.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com. Follow him @BDTOwens