CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of January 27, 2022, there are currently 17,525 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been 23 deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 5,697 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
“If you are hesitant of the COVID vaccine, please talk to your physician,” said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. “Those who contract this virus without protection of the vaccine or booster are at an incredibly high risk for hospitalization and loss of life. I urge you to make that phone call today.”
To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
Due to possible adverse weather, please check with the testing site, DHHR’s social media pages and the COVID-19 website https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx for any last minute cancellations.
Gov. Jim Justice and members of the West Virginia COVID-19 pandemic response leadership team held another news briefing today to update the public on the state’s latest pandemic response and vaccine distribution efforts.
On Wednesday, Gov. Justice reported that there are now 18,149 active cases of COVID-19 and 1,043 COVID-related hospitalizations statewide; the highest number of hospitalizations for any day since the start of the pandemic. The cumulative percent positivity rate stands at 7.85%.
The Governor went on to announce that 206 West Virginia National Guard members have now been authorized to deploy to 26 medical facilities across the state as part of the WVNG’s mission to provide staffing support to West Virginia hospitals in the face of the current surge.
“We continue to thank our National Guard in every way for their help, day in and day out at our hospitals,” Gov. Justice said. “The overwhelming majority of the folks that are in the hospitals and are sick and on ventilators and are in the ICU units are unvaccinated. I’ve said it again and again: we need to get all of our people vaccinated and boosted. … We don’t want to have our hospitals overrun, but we’re on the brink right now. We can’t afford for you to wait any longer. Please get vaccinated and boosted.”
West Virginians interested in being vaccinated or having their children vaccinated are encouraged to visit Vaccinate.wv.gov or call the West Virginia Vaccine Info Line: 1-833-734-0965.
Also on Wednesday, Gov. Justice offered another reminder that the federal government is now offering three free N95 masks per American. As a result, free masks will soon be made available at pharmacies and community health centers across West Virginia. The Governor also offered a reminder that the federal government continues to offer every household in America four free at-home COVID-19 tests. To get your free at-home COVID tests, visit COVIDtests.gov.
During Wednesday’s briefing, Gov. Justice highlighted the FDA’s recent announcement that they are no longer permitting the use of the two major monoclonal antibody treatments.
In their announcement, the FDA said that these two treatments are highly unlikely to be effective against the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“In light of the most recent information and data available, today, the FDA revised the authorizations for two monoclonal antibody treatments – bamlanivimab and etesevimab (administered together) and REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab) – to limit their use to only when the patient is likely to have been infected with or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments.
Because data show these treatments are highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant, which is circulating at a very high frequency throughout the United States, these treatments are not authorized for use in any U.S. states, territories, and jurisdictions at this time. In the future, if patients in certain geographic regions are likely to be infected or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments, then use of these treatments may be authorized in these regions.”
While these monoclonal antibody treatments are no longer authorized for use in West Virginia at this time, there are several other therapies that are currently available, including another brand of monoclonal antibodies and two oral pills that work against the Omicron variant and are approved for the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for severe disease, including hospitalization or death.
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