W.Va. COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Rising

New COVID-19 cases in West Virginia have doubled in the past two weeks. According to the New York Times’ COVID-19 tracker, the state has seen the largest per capita uptick of any state in the past 14 days.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending up for the first time in almost three months. At 84 patients total, there are 13 more people in the hospital with COVID-19 than there were a week ago. That comes after a 12-week period where hospitalizations plummeted from 1,000 to under 100.

COVID-19 cases are rising in the U.S. and in West Virginia due to the omicron subvariant BA.2. Right now, the spread is nowhere near as explosive as the spikes seen during the delta or omicron surges.

“I think the overall news is still good,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus czar.

Federal officials are taking a similarly calm stance. The nation’s head infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the acute phase of the pandemic is over in the U.S.

The increase in cases in West Virginia comes after Northeastern states saw similar upticks. State health officials say West Virginia tends to lag behind other, more urban states when it comes to the spread of new variants.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.