West Virginia has been experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases for sometime and new infections continue to rise by record numbers of cases each week.
According to data compiled by the New York Times, W.Va. is among the states with the highest rates of spread for coronavirus. There has been an 89% jump in cases over the past two weeks.
W.Va. leads the nation in the acceleration of new cases with 2.69 cases per 100,000 people per week per day. The state’s rate of new cases is higher than all the other states.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported a 1,008 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday morning.
The Mountain State’s active cases currently stand at 21,752 with a daily infection rate of 14.55%.
Around 59% of people aged twelve and older are fully vaccinated in the state. The DHHR confirmed today that 6,608 cases are “breakthrough” cases. A breakthrough case is a person that has developed COVID-19 despite being vaccinated against the virus. According the DHHR, the number of breakthrough cases represents .72% of fully vaccinated individuals.
Eighty-five people that have been vaccinated against the virus have died due to complications brought on by the coronavirus. Breakthrough deaths represent .009% of people that have succumbed to the virus.
Hospitalizations are up today with 756 patients. The previous peak for hospitalized cases was 818 patients in January of this year. Out of the hospital cases, 247 patients are in intensive care 132 of those are on a vent. Each day West Virginia continues to surpass an earlier high of 104 vent cases from back in January.
The color coded county alert map has 53 counties either red or orange. The map tracks the severity of virus spread with red and orange representing the worst spread of coronavirus.
Governor Jim Justice continued to urge vaccinations on Monday, but said he believes more serious challenges are ahead.
“One of two things is going to happen. We’ve going to reach the peak and it’s going to start down really soon. Or what’s apt to happen is, it’s going to get colder and as it gets colder and we’re going to get more in confined areas and it’s going to get worse,”
Justice's next conference on virus response is Wednesday at 11 a.m.