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WHEELING -- The number of new COVID-19 cases in West Virginia requiring hospitalization is on the rise, which has state officials monitoring daily capacity levels at hospitals as the new year begins.
Gov. Jim Justice gave his last COVID briefing of 2021 to state reporters on Thursday, and pointed out COVID numbers will likely continue to increase as 2022 begins.
"I know we've been through some tough stuff in 2021, and it's probably going to continue to be tough," Justice said. "We're going to have to be on our toes, and watch what we do….
"The omicron virus is moving across our state. We still only have 18 cases, but it is absolutely moving and we know it's moving. It's going to get tougher."
Justice reported another 48 people in West Virginia had died of COVID since Tuesday, bringing the total number of lives lost to the virus in the state to 5,336 as of Thursday morning. He also noted there had been 2,648 new COVID cases in West Virginia since Tuesday, and that the daily positivity rate in the state was 13.77%.
On Thursday morning, there were 646 hospitalized due to COVID in West Virginia, with 197 of the patients in intensive care units and 108 on ventilators.
Justice and other government officials reported they were especially concerned by the high number of recent COVID cases resulting in hospitalizations. There were 85 hospitalizations reported on Tuesday, and 95 on Wednesday.
"The sweet spot is when we go over 60 -- then the alarm buttons go off," Justice said. "If we continue to go over 60, we're on the doorstep of something worse."
Justice said he has directed his team to closely monitor the COVID numbers, and provide recommendations regarding hospitals and maintaining the state "health care infrastructure."
"The bottom line and whole thing is to save lives and to protect our hospitals, and protect our ability to care for our people," he said. "It is absolutely essential.
"And we are concerned -- very, very concerned -- that we could get into a situation where our hospitals are overrun."
James Hoyer, director of the state interagency task force, said his office continues to get daily data from hospitals. He said the focus isn't just on the number of cases, but also a hospital's capacity to continue providing health care services.
He reminded the public that health care providers working around COVID patients can be prone to the virus, and that is causing additional challenges to hospitals.
"As you know, the numbers can be driven not just by the number of available beds, but the number of beds that can be staffed," Hoyer said.
Dr. Clay Marsh, state COVID czar, explained the omicron variant is different from other forms of the virus.
It is "more like a cold" or a sinus infection to those vaccinated and boosted. They may experience stuffiness, and a need to blow their nose, he explained.
Marsh suggested a person with symptoms first call their primary care physician before going to a hospital for treatment, with the idea that many patients can get the care they need while staying at home.
"Obviously, we don't have the capacity for everyone to come to the emergency room," he said.
State Health Officer Ayne Amjad said both the public and health care providers need to stay apprised of the best practices for both preventing and treating COVID-19 viruses.
"COVID 19 is going to be around, and we have to adjust to it. But we also have to take advantage of all that we have that can keep us safe. Vaccines being number one…," she said. "We know the vaccine is the best protection to keep people out of the hospital and from dying.
"While we do need to learn to live with it, we also have to follow what is up to date now and do what we have to do to keep us safe," Amjad said.