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Covid hospitalization rate can’t be sustained, state leaders stress

With more than 500 West Virginians now hospitalized with covid-19, state leaders warned the trend is unsustainable and dangerous.

James Hoyer

“What we’ve been looking at is we look at the overall capacity each day. This trendline is to let West Virginia know we are at a pace we can’t sustain,” said Jim Hoyer, leader of the state’s interagency task force.

“Unvaccinated West Virginians are taking away access to healthcare from other West Virginians.”

West Virginia’s covid-19 dashboard showed 511 West Virginians hospitalized because of the virus today.

That number has been going straight up since July 4, when the state reported 52 hospitalizations. So the number has multiplied by ten over less than two months.

Hospitalizations from covid-19 peaked at 818 last Jan. 5.

“We are on a path, if we stay on the current path we are on we could more than double that number,” Hoyer said today.

Dr. Clay Marsh

If that continues, said coronavirus response coordinator Clay Marsh, the repercussions could be felt not only by covid patients but by those with other serious medical conditions.

“When hospitals start to have problems, not only is it the covid patients but also we have problems taking care of folks with heart attacks, strokes and other issues as well,” Marsh said.

Gov. Jim Justice

Gov. Jim Justice echoed that concern.

“If you couldn’t get hospital care because people decided to not get vaccinated and the hospitals were filled, it wouldn’t be good. It just wouldn’t be good,” he said.

When state officials carefully watched the number of hospitalizations at the height of the pandemic, they assessed the situation through bed and equipment capacity, Hoyer said.

Now officials are carefully monitoring a different resource: medical personnel.

MORE: Hospital CEO describes healthcare crisis 

West Virginia has long had a nursing shortage, and many hospitals compensate with highly-compensated travel nurses.

Demand for healthcare workers has grown acute as the delta variant of covid-19 has swept across the nation, particularly the south.

“We have to look at staffing issues as those staffing levels are changing because, quite frankly, other states in dire circumstances are poaching healthcare providers away,” Hoyer said.

Along with overall hospitalizations, related benchmarks have been going up as well.

West Virginia recorded 171 covid patients needing treatment in intensive care units. That number is at its highest since the state hit 172 covid patients in the ICU last Jan. 17.

There were 74 covid patients needing treatment on ventilators today. That number hadn’t been so high since Jan. 22.

West Virginia’s covid numbers have been rising steadily for weeks.

Today’s overall number of active cases recorded by the state stood at 11,725.

Back on July 25, a month ago, the number was just 1,567.

State leaders have continued to urge vaccination.

Justice has acknowledged that other steps may prove necessary, but he hasn’t yet made that call. Instead, he has left local officials to make decisions like face coverings in schools.

“Right now we’re trying with all in us to let our local rule stand. It may very well be soon that I’m not going to be able to do that. But right now I am trying with all in me to keep us together,” the governor said today.

If such additional steps were to occur, Justice said, they would likely begin with requirements for the school system.

But right now, he said, “I still do not have enough evidence in front of me that the masks are really going to curtail this in a significant enough way to put us back in that situation.”





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