COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice reports national COVID-19 cases six times higher than one year ago

Press Release

Gov. Jim Justice and members of the West Virginia COVID-19 pandemic response leadership team held another news briefing today to update the public on the state's latest pandemic response and vaccine distribution efforts.
NATIONAL COVID-19 CASES SIX TIMES HIGHER THAN ONE YEAR AGO
During Tuesday's briefing, Gov. Justice reported that, according to Johns Hopkins, the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are more than six times what they were a year ago.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center showed a seven-day average of 119,725 cases as of Saturday. That figure held at 17,887 cases on May 28 of last year.

"We're seeing a variant that is more contagious, meaning that you're surely more apt to get it," Gov. Justice said. "But absolutely you should really consider the fact that if you're not vaccinated, the way this thing's running across the land, there's a good chance you're going to get it in a bad way. I remind you over and over about your booster shot too, you know it's available to you and absolutely you should be getting your booster shots."

Despite the rising infection rate, COVID-related deaths were down from last year, a sign of increased immunity through vaccines and prior infections, along with wider availability of treatments.
WATCH FULL BRIEFING
"We are close to 100,000 average cases a day in the United States and really smart authorities think that we are picking up probably as few as 5 to 10% of all positive cases that are circulating," Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said. "Remember at this point in 2021, we were sort of feeling good that perhaps we were going to get long respite from COVID and that's when the Delta variants occurred for us and and caused many, many problems. And so it's important for us to be highly vigilant about protecting ourselves and making sure we are fully vaccinated."

Source