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CHARLESTON -- The recent increase in active COVID-19 cases in West Virginia was not unexpected, a state health adviser said Monday.
The variant of the omicron strain, BA2, is the most contagious mutation so far, according to Dr. Clay Marsh, coronavirus adviser to the state.
"We know the variant is one of the most highly infectious viruses that we have ever seen," Marsh said.
Active cases in West Virginia on Monday were reported at 631. Cases have been gradually increasing over the last three weeks, from 263 on April 4. The pandemic high during the latest surge was more than 21,700 in January.
"We do understand that we will see spread of the virus as the virus becomes more dominant here," Marsh said during Gov. Jim Justice's Monday pandemic briefing. "So the cases going up are not a surprise."
What will define success in the state's virus response is the severity of illness, particularly hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units and death, including those who were fully vaccinated and older and higher-risk populations unable to mount a sufficient immune response, he said.
"Those are people we are particularly worried about and are watching here," Marsh said. "We also know that the vaccines don't necessarily keep people from getting infected given the incredible infectability of the omicron BA2 variant."
Booster shots have shown in studies from Israel to reduce deaths by 78 percent and hospitalizations by 65 percent, he said.
The governor pointed out that the death rate has declined, which he said was good news, but still a tragedy for the family of the 61-year-old man from Kanawha County whose death was read in Monday's briefing. That was the only death since Friday's report, Justice said.
"We hate like heck to have lost just one," he said.
Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com