With active covid-19 cases coming down by 10,000 in West Virginia, state leaders are optimistic the state could be reaching a peak of the current surge.
However, they warn that there could be a lag before there are fewer hospitalizations and deaths.
“Plus or minus a couple of days, we are probably at, for this surge, a peak number of cases,” said Jim Hoyer, leader of the state’s interagency task force, while speaking on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“The bad news is, what we know is from the last surge in West Virginia as well as nationally, you have about a two- to four-week point after that where hospitalizations and deaths go to their peak. So we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead for our hospitals. We’re going to see, unfortunately, a lot of West Virginians die.”
Gen. Jim Hoyer, head of the state Covid-19 Interagency Task Force, speaks with @HoppyKercheval about current covid cases and trends relating to hospitalizations, as well as Pfizer booster FDA approval. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/uuWfhfSjwR
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) September 21, 2021
West Virginia identified 17,435 active cases of covid-19 today.
Sunday’s number was 21,490.
Friday’s number was 27,525.
“This is about the time we anticipate we are going to the top of that inverted V and starting to come down,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s coronavirus response adviser, also speaking on “Talkline.”
Covid-19 Czar Dr. @claymarsh talks with @HoppyKercheval about covid numbers, boosters, and treatments. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/hMJ9P6SaPu
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) September 21, 2021
But Marsh, too, warned that it could take longer before hospitalizations and deaths begin to come down.
“Deaths will be the last thing to drop,” he said.
West Virginia now stands at 3,441 covid-related deaths identified since the start of the pandemic.
The state reported 17 deaths today.
West Virginia has reported 2,331 covid deaths since vaccination became available. Of those, only 5 percent were people who had been vaccinated, according to state figures.
West Virginia reported 954 covid-related hospitalizations today. That was down one from the prior day’s 955. Of the hospitalizations, about 83 percent are unvaccinated residents.
The state reported 278 covid patients in the intensive care unit today, down from the prior figure of 292.
And state figures showed 160 covid patients who need ventilators to help them breathe, down from 164.
To keep those numbers down over time, Marsh said the state needs more progress on vaccination.
“We’re going to need 85 to 90 percent of our citizens immune, preferably by vaccine,” Marsh said.
Of West Virginia’s vaccine-eligible population, 60 percent are considered fully-vaccinated, according to state figures.
West Virginia’s seven-day vaccination average is 1,285.
That number has been flat or trending down.
On Friday, it was 1,514.
Last Tuesday, it was 1,597.
“If we as West Virginians can’t take on the responsibility of getting over 80 percent of our population vaccinated, I think it’s inevitable that probably late fall, early winter, sometime into next spring we could very well see a couple more surges and we’re gonna lose a lot of West Virginians who are at health risk and a lot of West Virginians we don’t have to,” Hoyer said.
“We really need you to go get vaccinated.”