Omicron case detected in Wood County | News, Sports, Jobs

PARKERSBURG — The omicron variant has reached the Mid-Ohio Valley.

One case of the COVID-19 mutation that accounted for an estimated 95% of new cases in the U.S. last week was reported in Wood County Tuesday, according to statistics released by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Seventy-nine cases statewide are listed in the variant report on the state’s COVID dashboard.

Given that it takes a while to examine the genetic sequence of coronavirus specimens to identify individual strains and the increased transmissibility of omicron, it’s unlikely that’s the only case, said Carrie Brainard, threat preparedness coordinator for the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department.

“Once we know that it’s in the area, we definitely assume there are more cases of it,” she said.

Brainard said confirmation of the omicron variant’s presence doesn’t change the Health Department’s recommendations for residents.

“We’re still trying to encourage people to get their vaccinations and get their boosters and take precautions,” she said.

Omicron is believed to be easier to spread but less likely to result in severe complications, although that is still a possibility, Brainard said.

Active COVID-19 cases in Wood County rose from 457 Monday to 513 Tuesday, according to DHHR statistics. Numbers in other local counties as of Tuesday (Monday) were: Calhoun, 29 (25); Doddridge, 20 (24); Gilmer, 34 (40); Jackson, 101 (130); Pleasants, 33 (38); Ritchie, 49 (44); Roane, 78 (80); Tyler, 37 (34); Wetzel, 123 (118); Wirt, 23 (20).

Forty of West Virginia’s 55 counties were red on the County Alert System map. That represents the highest level of spread of the virus based on the number of new cases per 100,000 people in a one- or two-week period, depending on population, or the percentage of tests coming back positive, whichever is lower.

Locally, the red counties were Wood, Jackson, Ritchie, Wetzel and Wirt. Gilmer, Pleasants, Roane, Tyler and Wirt were orange, the second-highest level.

Doddridge County was yellow, the second lowest, while Calhoun was one of just three counties in the state on green, the lowest level.

Anyone experiencing cold or flu symptoms should get tested, Brainard said. Demand for testing is up locally.

“The rapid tests are hard to come by. The home tests, they’re flying off the shelf,” she said.

There are still plenty of standard testing opportunities, Brainard said, directing people to coronavirus.wv.gov to find them.

“Don’t show up at the emergency room to be tested,” she said. “We want to keep the emergency rooms available for those that are extremely ill.”

WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center had 45 COVID-19 patients Tuesday. Fourteen of them had been vaccinated. One of eight COVID patients in the intensive care unit had been vaccinated, while one of five on a ventilator had been, a hospital spokesman said.

The DHHR confirmed the deaths of five people had been attributed to the virus Tuesday, including a 77-year-old woman from Jackson County. That brings the total fatalities from complications of the virus to 5,361 in West Virginia since the pandemic’s start in March 2020.

“As we continue the fight against this pandemic, we are devastated by the loss of more West Virginians,” DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch said. “I urge all West Virginians to follow the health recommendations and receive their vaccine or booster immediately.”