The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department reported on an average of 28 new positive cases of Covid-19 during the month of January, but the average thus far in February has decreased significantly during the first half of the month.
The health department reported a total of 857 positive tests in January, but only 124 were recorded during the first two weeks of February. Lou Vargo, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency and interim county administrator, believes the holiday surge of positives and deaths did not go unnoticed by the residents of Ohio County.
“What I am seeing now when I am out in the public is the number of people not wearing masks is very minimal. That hasn’t always been the case,” Vargo said. “I can remember when I would go to a store at The Highlands and only half of the people were wearing them, and there was very little social distancing. But now, everyone seems to be doing what we were told to do when this all started.
“I’m happy people are now taking heed to the warnings, and most people also know someone who has had the virus. For some, maybe it was like a bad flu, but we know that’s not the case for everyone,” he said. “Plus, with people getting the first and second shots on the vaccine, that has to be helping with making the numbers go down, too.”
Prior to the beginning of distribution of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Vargo read much criticism about the hurried development of the immunity booster on social media, so he did not know what to expect when the inoculations began in Ohio County. However, demand has been very high, and the EMA director feels that may have played a factor with the increase of people using pandemic precautions.
“I think another reason why the numbers have decreased in Ohio County is because people know their turn for the first and second dose is coming, and they want to stay healthy so they can get it,” Vargo explained. “If you have Covid, you cannot get the vaccine, so the safer they are from now until it’s their turn is the best thing to do.
“So far, we’ve only had a few people who became positive for the virus, and they had to cancel their vaccination appointments,” he reported. “We have rescheduled those individuals, so that’s not an issue, but they had to wait for it, and I’m sure they weren’t happy about that fact. I’m just happy that we have reached the point to where people are getting vaccinated, and the majority of people are now doing those three things, wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing their hands.”
95 Percent Efficacy
Records were broken by the quick development of the counter to Covid-19, and both versions are more effective against the coronavirus than the flu shot is against influenza, but there still is a chance a vaccinated person can contract, carry, and spread Covid-19.
According to information released by the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines leave about a 5 percent chance.
“One of the reasons why the CDC has recommended people who have been vaccinated should continue wearing masks and social distancing because the vaccine is not foolproof. It gets your immunity up so your system can fight against the virus, but there’s still that slight chance of contracting it,” Vargo said. “We’re going to be in this situation until we get much more of the vaccine out.
“We have gone through periods of time when the testing centers were recording very high numbers,” he said. “This month, we have seen days when we are only in the single digits, and I’m really looking forward to the days when the health department has nothing to report. I believe the last time that was the case was 10 months ago.”
Free testing will continue this week on Wheeling Island, and Wheeling Hospital will continue operating its drive-thru center on the campus of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center in Center Wheeling. While the number of people seeking tests has decreased, Vargo said it will be a long time from now before the examinations are discontinued.
“There are no plans to stop testing here in Ohio County, and the governor’s free testing on Wheeling Island will continue, too, because not only is that location important to the people in Ohio County, but it is also to residents of Belmont County because there’s not a lot of testing going on over there,” Vargo said. “We do to keep the testing centers open even though our numbers have gone down, and that’s because it’s very important for someone who has been exposed to the virus to know.
“It will not be until we get a much higher percentage vaccinated when we start discussing the testing locations,” he said. “Everything is working very well at the Community Vaccination Center at The Highlands, and we could be doing a lot more if we could get the supply from the state. We have the capability of doing as many as 1,000 vaccinations per day, so hopefully we see the number of doses increase soon.”
