Gov. Justice, Hoyer warn cold weather, variants, flu threaten W.Va. hospitals [View all]

CHARLESTON — West Virginia officials are concerned the combination of colder temperatures, low vaccination and booster rates, the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 and the flu will make this winter a difficult time for the state and its hospitals.

Hospitalizations and other statistics are already cause for concern, said James Hoyer, leader of the state’s Joint Interagency Task Force for COVID-19 and vaccines.

“Any time we get above 60 daily admissions of COVID patients across our hospital systems, we know that’s putting our hospitals in a detrimental position,” he said during Gov. Jim Justice’s online briefing Thursday. “(Wednesday’s) number was 82.”

Across West Virginia, there were 602 people hospitalized with complications from the virus Thursday, with 208 in intensive care units and 126 on ventilators.

Read more: https://www.journal-news.net/journal-news/gov-justice-hoyer-warn-cold-weather-variants-flu-threaten-w-va-hospitals/article_e4da807a-0808-5538-8d89-fa97f63d6612.html
(Martinsburg Journal)