By Charles Young, WV News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s COVID-19 hospitalizations soon could reach levels not seen since last winter, officials said Wednesday.
There were 511 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 statewide as of Wednesday, which represents about 64% of the state’s previous hospitalization peak of 829 patients, said James Hoyer, assistant to Gov. Jim Justice and the Joint Interagency Task Force on pandemic response efforts and vice president of WVU’s Start-Up West Virginia program.
Hoyer, a former general with the West Virginia National Guard, spoke during Gov. Jim Justice’s press briefing.
“We currently are at 64% of the peak that we saw last time,” said Hoyer, who leads the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts. “If we stay on the current path that we’re on, we could more than double that number.”
There were fewer than 60 COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide at the beginning of July, Hoyer said.
“We’re at 511 in 53 days,” he said. “So the bottom line message, the strategic message to all of West Virginia, is that currently unvaccinated West Virginians are filling up our hospital capacity and taking away from other West Virginians the ability to get hospital care down the road if we don’t get more West Virginians vaccinated.” …
To read more: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/hoyer-unvaccinated-west-virginians-are-filling-up-our-hospital-capacity/article_95066e34-05a6-11ec-81b2-134afc823da9.html