During Monday’s briefing, Governor Jim Justice once again took time to urge all West Virginians who are age 16 and older to get vaccinated as soon as possible to help curb the spread of COVID-19, especially in light of the recent increase in variant strains being seen across the state.
“You may be sitting there thinking, ‘Now that there have been a bunch of people that have gotten vaccinated, I can slide by and not get vaccinated,’” Gov. Justice said.
“Oh, what an incredible chance you’re taking,” he continued. “Not only do we still have the original COVID-19 situation to deal with, but now we’ve got all the variants that increase the chances of infection or death.
“Even if I was the only person that wasn’t vaccinated – the only one – even if the chances of me getting this were almost nil because everybody else was vaccinated, I’d still run to get a vaccine because, if you do get this, the price you could pay is unbelievable.”
Gov. Justice also renewed calls for West Virginians to continue following all proper face covering protocols as advised by state medical experts.
“This terrible killer continues to take our wisdom away from us,” Gov. Justice said. “We’ve got to stay on guard. We’ve still got to wear our masks.
“There will be a point in time when we will be able to get rid of these masks. Nobody dislikes them any more than I do,” Gov. Justice continued. “But at the same time, for all that we know, they are a lifesaver.”
The current number of active cases in the state is now 7,470, up from 7,084 as of his previous COVID-19 briefing on Friday last week. The number of active hospitalizations is now 271, down from 280 on Friday last week. Of those currently hospitalized, 82 are in the ICU, down from 87 such patients on Friday last week. The cumulative percent of positive cases remains at 5.23%. ■
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