CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia leaders are reflecting on the last two years since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic as COVID-19 spread across the world.
“If you look at where we’ve been, and it’s been sad, it’s been frustrating, it’s been exhausting, it’s been all the adjectives that you could come up with, but it’s better,” Gov. Jim Justice said during Friday’s coronavirus media briefing.
Since the start of the pandemic on March 11, 2020, the virus has claimed more than 6 million lives – nearly one million in the United States alone. In West Virginia, there have been 6,550 deaths.
The state Department of Health and Human Resources reported 1,432 active cases on Friday. The last time active cases were that low was July 23, 2021.
DHHR reports as of March 11, 2022, there are currently 1,432 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been six deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 6,550 deaths attributed to COVID-19. https://t.co/ATgU9BT0Xm pic.twitter.com/L8wBkL3TRY
— WV DH, DHF, and DoHS (@WV_DH_DHF_DoHS) March 11, 2022
DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said it’s too early to take a victory lap, but that the Mountain State is on the right path.
“We have done a tremendous job,” Crouch said. “It’s a real challenge to balance the population with West Virginians having some strong feelings to vaccinations and this virus.”
Hospitalizations on Friday were at 312 including 78 patients in the ICU and 50 on ventilators. The pandemic high was more than 1,000.
“This is not over. We’re looking at a great trend and we’re moving in the right direction,” Crouch said.
The entire state of West Virginia is in the “green” on the DHHR’s COVID-19 County Alert Map except for Wirt County that remains in the “yellow” and Webster County that is in the “gold.”
State Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said during Friday’s briefing, they would like to increase vaccinations first before reducing services like free testing and vaccination clinics across the state.
“We’re optimistic that things will continue to settle in another few weeks. I think if that’s true, we certainly will consider whether or not we reduce the number of testing places, but for now, I think we still want to keep a very close watch of what’s going on,” Marsh said.