COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are now falling in West Virginia following the omicron surge.
COVID-19 cases peaked last month, breaking state records for the pandemic. But in the past week, new cases have fallen 25 percent.
Hospitals are seeing a decrease in patients as well, with just under 1000 current COVID-19 patients. That’s 100 fewer COVID-19 patients than there were a week ago.
“You’ll see the surge that went up, way up, and you see it moving down, and it moving down pretty aggressively,” Gov. Jim Justice said.
The U.S. is also well into the downslope of the omicron surge. State officials say West Virginia tends to be a few weeks behind the rest of the nation when it comes to the spread of new variants.
COVID-19 deaths will be the last indicator of the surge to fall. Deaths are harder to accurately track because it can take weeks for the state to confirm them.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.