COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice issues order permitting colleges and universities to reopen

​CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia health leaders and other officials today for his latest daily press briefing regarding the State’s COVID-19 response.

EXECUTIVE ORDER PERMITTING COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES TO REOPEN
During Friday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that he has issued an executive order, formally allowing all of West Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities to reopen for the fall semester.

The order does not mandate a specific reopening date, allowing each institution to reopen on their own preferred time frame.

“After a lot of dialogue with all of our colleges and universities, I know that they are doing anything and everything they can possibly do to keep students, faculty, and their communities as safe as possible,” Gov. Justice said.

On Tuesday, Gov. Justice hosted a virtual meeting with all 27 of West Virginia’s public and private college and university presidents to discuss reopening plans.

The executive order announced today also formalizes the reopening date for all public and private Pre-K-12 schools as Sept. 8, 2020, as previously announced by the Governor. Additionally, the order clarifies restrictions for certain businesses across West Virginia.

MILLIONS OF MEALS PROVIDED TO WEST VIRGINIA CHILDREN
Also on Friday, Gov. Justice gave another update on efforts by the West Virginia Department of Education, county boards of education, and additional community partners to provide meals to children through the variety of feeding programs across the state.

“The West Virginia Department of Education received more than $36 million in CARES Act funding to be used for the period between March and September 2020,” Gov. Justice said. “This funding was sent directly to the WVDE from the USDA, specifically for meal claims reimbursement to counties.

“As of July, the West Virginia Department of Education has spent more than $40.5 million in meal reimbursements and over 11.5 million meals were served during the COVID-19 school closure,” Gov. Justice continued. “This summer, approximately 6.6 million meals will be served through the Summer Food Service Program through 353 feeding sites.”

In June 2020 alone, the WVDE reimbursed summer sponsors $7.8 million in federal reimbursement money. This is in comparison to $1.75 million in federal reimbursement for the entirety of the 2019 Summer Food Service Program.

Click here to read the WVDE’s full pandemic and summer feeding update

WEST VIRGINIA STRONG SUMMER FOOD ASSISTANCE MAP
Also, Gov. Justice reminded West Virginians that an interactive free-feeding location map, designed to help connect citizens in need to food resources across the state, is available online.

Click here to view the map

More than 696 free-feeding locations have now been made available through a multi-agency effort between the West Virginia National Guard, the West Virginia Department of Education, the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services, the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD), and the United Way.

If food distribution locations aren't available in some communities, individuals are encouraged to call 211 for further assistance.

GOV. JUSTICE HOSTS LAWMAKERS FOR MEETING ON COVID-19 RECOVERY
Additionally Friday, Gov. Justice announced that, earlier in the day, he hosted a virtual meeting with the various West Virginia legislators on his COVID-19 advisory council to discuss the distribution of pandemic-related relief funding.

“We had a really productive meeting,” Gov. Justice said. “We spent the last couple hours with a lot of good people, going through a lot of good ideas and questions.

“We talked about the distribution of our CARES Act dollars, how we put our plan together, how it’s all flowing, and how we’re modifying it and making it better with input from lots of different people,” Gov. Justice continued.

The Governor went on to say that he is consulting with these lawmakers from all across the state, to figure out the best ways to ensure that every West Virginian who qualifies to receive funding is able to get their share as quickly as possible.

“We don’t want to leave any stone unturned and we don’t want to leave money on the table,” Gov. Justice said. “We absolutely want to take advantage of every dollar we can take advantage of.”

MONONGALIA COUNTY BAR CLOSURE EXTENDED BY 10 DAYS
Also on Friday, Gov. Justice offered a reminder that yesterday he issued an executive order, extending the closure of all bars in Monongalia County for an additional 10 days.

Click here to read an overview of the rules and regulations for Monongalia County bars (via the West Virginia ABCA)

“Monongalia County remains a hotspot and going to a bar is among the riskiest things that we can do at a time where we’re trying to contain this terrible virus,” Gov. Justice said yesterday. “We’ve seen some of our numbers across the state start to move in our favor just in the past day or so, but it’s absolutely crucial for us to see continued improvement in Monongalia County in the days ahead. It is our hope to be able to get these businesses reopened as soon as safety can be ensured for all.

“At the end of the day, we need a little more time to see where our numbers are headed,” Gov. Justice continued. “We cannot afford to make a wrong move and end up right back where we started or worse.”

Click here to read more

GOV. JUSTICE WELCOMES HOME SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM OVERSEAS
Additionally Friday, Gov. Justice took time out of his remarks to welcome home 33 soldiers from the West Virginia National Guard, who returned to the Mountain State this morning after spending nearly a year abroad.

“I’ve said over and over, we owe all of the goodness that we have in life to our heroes in uniform,” Gov. Justice said. “So, absolutely, we celebrate the return of these brave men and women today.”

The Governor added that, over the next two months, approximately 600 WVNG soldiers are scheduled to return home from various deployments around the world. 

“To everyone else who remains deployed, we continue to have all of those great West Virignians in our thoughts as we pray for their safe return home,” Gov. Justice said. “But today we celebrate a really special day and, over the next couple of months, we’re going to celebrate a whole bunch more because we’re bringing people home. It’s great stuff.”

COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS UPDATE
Gov. Justice also reported West Virginia’s most recent COVID-19 case numbers, announcing that Kanawha County has now surpassed Monongalia County as the county with the highest number of active cases.

View more COVID-19 data at Coronavirus.wv.gov.

Additionally, Gov. Justice announced that the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the agency in charge of reporting the number of COVID-19 cases, will transition to providing an update once every 24 hours instead of multiple times daily. This change comes at the recommendation of DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch and State Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad.

“It’s being done across our country and it seems that it’s more efficient that way because the numbers change constantly,” Gov. Justice said. “So it’s more efficient to see how we’re doing over a 24-hour reporting period instead.”

ACTIVE CHURCH OUTBREAKS IN EIGHT COUNTIES
Also on Friday, Gov. Justice announced that 125 cases of COVID-19 across West Virginia have now been linked to active church-related outbreaks in eight counties statewide.

Counties where such outbreaks have been identified include Boone, Grant, Kanawha, Logan, Mason, Raleigh, Taylor, and Wood counties.

FREE COVID-19 TESTING: BROOKE, GILMER, LOGAN, AND MARION COUNTIES
Gov. Justice also updated the schedule of upcoming free community COVID-19 testing events taking place over the next two weeks at various dates and times in Brooke, Gilmer, Logan, and Marion counties.

The effort is part of a plan to provide free optional testing to all residents in several counties that are experiencing higher rates of COVID-19 transmission. It targets residents who have struggled to be seen by a physician or do not have insurance to pay for testing. However, other residents, including those who are asymptomatic are welcome to be tested.

THIS WEEK
 

Brooke County
Saturday, July 25
8:00 a.m. –  2:00 p.m.
Brooke High/Middle School Complex:
5 Bruin Drive, Wellsburg, WV

• Transportation will be provided for individuals who are unable to drive to this location only. To arrange for transport, please call 304-737-3665.

Logan County
Saturday, July 25
9:00 a.m. –  4:00 p.m.
Logan County Emergency Ambulance Authority, Station #30:
26 ½ Main Avenue, Logan, WV

NEXT WEEK
 

Gilmer County
Friday, July 31 & Saturday, August 1
7:00 a.m. –  3:00 p.m.
809 Medical Drive, Suite 3, Glenville, WV

Marion County
Saturday, August 1
9:00 a.m. –  4:00 p.m.
Windmill Park:
900 Ogden Avenue, Fairmont, WV

SMALL BUSINESS GRANT APPLICATIONS
Also on Friday, Gov. Justice offered a reminder that applications are available for small businesses seeking to receive funding through the Governor’s West Virginia CARES Act Small Business Grant Program.

The initiative will provide $150 million of West Virginia’s CARES Act funding to qualifying businesses across the state. Any West Virginia-based small business, in existence on March 1, 2020, with 1-35 employees, is able to apply for up to $5,000 in grant funding.

Businesses planning to apply must first be registered as a vendor with the State to be eligible. Guidelines for the grants and instructions on how to apply are available at Grants.wv.gov.

The application will remain open until Sept. 30, 2020.

CITIES/COUNTIES GRANT FUNDING: $54.3 MILLION HAS NOW BEEN AWARDED
Also today, Gov. Justice provided an update on cities and counties throughout West Virginia applying for funds through the federal CARES Act, reporting that more than $54.3 million has now been awarded all across the state.

A new web portal is now available for city and county government officials to apply for this grant funding, at grants.wv.gov. Interested parties can also call the helpline: 1-833-94-GRANT.

Each of the recipients of CARES Act funding, along with grant amounts, are now available to view through the COVID-19 transparency web portal provided by West Virginia State Auditor’s Office.

WEST VIRGINIANS URGED TO PARTICIPATE IN CENSUS
Once more today, Gov. Justice asked all West Virginians to participate in the 2020 United States Census.

Every West Virginian who does not respond to the Census represents a loss of $20,000 in federal funds over the next 10 years for the state and its local communities. The funds can go toward things like healthcare, education, infrastructure, school lunch programs, and more.

Be counted in minutes: 2020census.gov.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Click here to view all Executive Orders and other actions taken by Gov. Justice to combat the spread of COVID-19 in West Virginia.

For more information about COVID-19 prevention and more, call the State’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-887-4304 or visit Coronavirus.wv.gov.