 As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 takes hold in Pike County, hospitalizations are on the rise despite a slight decrease in cases. Tuesday, Mountaintop spoke with Pike County Health Director Tammy Riley about current case numbers. Well, we're definitely in what we call exponential growth. We currently have 16,067 reported cases to public health. Active cases are growing much faster than we can move individuals over to the recovered area. We have 1,728 active cases, 14,112 individuals are recovered. But we're seeing currently we have 235 deceased individuals in Pike County to date. Those are confirmed COVID-19 deaths. We're definitely seeing beginning to see and finally an increase in hospitalizations from the Omicron variant. We're at 68 hospitalized in our two Pike County hospitals. 38 of those 67 are Pike County residents. So it did take a few weeks, but the Omicron surge has happened very quickly and we are starting to see an increase in hospitalizations. At Pikeville Medical Center, we believe that together we can make a difference in the fight against cancer. We are proud to have patients who have experienced successful outcomes over many years. As always, we believe in the power of faith. Pikeville Medical Center, where cancer can be defeated. In Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear's COVID-19 update from Monday, current case numbers are down from the previous week. Riley reveals how Pike County compares to the decline. What I did see was just there were a few less cases this past week than what we saw in the previous week. We did during Omicron see over a thousand cases in a week, two weeks in a row in Pike County. So we're not seeing any kind of significant decline yet, but I do anticipate that. It very likely happened this past week. We went from a little over 1,100 cases in a week to 1,060 this past week. So definitely a slight decline, but still staggering numbers of new cases. Lastly, Riley mentions for individuals who have received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to get a booster if it has been six months and two months if they received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. For testing and boosters, Pike County Health Department will be offering services at the following locations, Phelps Public Library, Elkhorn City Community Center, and the Belfry Health Department Clinic from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For a list of days, you can visit the Pike County Health Department's Facebook page. For Mountaintop News, I'm Joel Chorjol.