Don’t Give Up: COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet – Martinsburg Journal

During his midweek COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Jim Justice sounded a cautious note of optimism. Anyone who has taken a look at the states maps lately can see more green blooming across our counties. In fact, 27 of the 55 are now in the lowest-risk category on the Department of Health and Human Services COVID alert map.

That is good news. But on the other hand, at the time of that briefing there were 3,574 active virus cases in the state, 596 hospitalized, 135 in intensive care units 78 on ventilators and 31 had died since the previous days report.

The number of deaths will trail, and we will still escalate a little bit, Justice said. But we are making progress and maybe the skies are looking better.

If that progress is to continue, West Virginians will have to continue maybe even step up their efforts to combat the virus. Easing off the accelerator is the wrong approach. COVID-19s variants dont need much of a window to attack.

If you have not yet gotten vaccinated or boosted, do so. Think carefully about whether it is still necessary to wear a high-quality mask in some communities. We cannot declare this fight won just yet. Mountain State residents must push as hard as ever to get the job done. Dont give up now.

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Don't Give Up: COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet - Martinsburg Journal