State officials say detrimental health effects will likely linger even once overall cases begin to decrease.
An “explosive growth phase,” is how Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus response adviser, described the current stat of the coronavirus Delta variant today during a conference on COVID response..
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported 22,215 active cases today, and a positivity rate of 17.96%.
One month ago, the state’s active cases counted 4,010 cases. Two months ago active cases were just under a thousand with 999 confirmed cases.
Dr. Marsh compared the current state of the virus to a brush fire that starts small but grows out of control. He said the surge underway now can’t be stopped.
“Vaccination won’t get us out of this surge right now. It has already started and it will needed to consume itself out,” Marsh said.
Marsh estimated the surge could last a few more days to a few more weeks, but people’s health will pay a price even after the peak of the surge.