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COVID-19 Response Weekly Update
April 11 -
April 17
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This week,
Gov. Jim Justice and State health leaders continued the fight to
slow the spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The
Justice Administration is working to keep the public informed of
the many measures being taken in the interest of protecting them
from the spread of the disease.
Additional information about COVID-19 and what West Virginia is
doing to combat the virus can be found on Coronavirus.wv.gov
or by calling the state's 24/7 hotline at 1-800-887-4304.
A list of
all of Gov. Justice's actions and executive orders related to
COVID-19 are also available online.
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On
Friday, Gov. Justice issued an Executive
Order, directing the West Virginia Department
of Health and Human Resources and the West Virginia National Guard
to test every nursing home resident and staff member throughout the
state.
Residents and staff members who have previously been tested will be
retested to ensure the most up-to-date results possible. The
Governor has directed that this effort begin immediately to provide
more aggressive support to West Virginia’s nursing home population.
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Additionally
Friday, Gov. Justice offered his support to President Donald J.
Trump and his three-phased plan of Opening Up
America Again.
“We need to, some way, transition out of this disease and get our
engine back going and get back to work,” Gov. Justice said. “Now,
as I’ve said over and over, I’m not going to back away from
protecting you and listening to our medical experts. But I can tell
you that it’s a priority, beyond belief, to get you back to doing
the things that you would like to do with your life and get West
Virginians back to work.”
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Gov.
Justice also provided an update on the State’s expedited processing
of unemployment claims, reporting that more than 14,000 claims were
processed Thursday alone.
With 130,000 unemployment claims into Workforce West Virginia since
the beginning of March, efforts continue to clear the backlog and
provide assistance to West Virginians as quickly as possible.
Click here
for more information on applying for unemployment benefits
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Finally,
Gov. Justice offered a reminder to all West Virginians to take the
opportunity to complete 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 ten years for the
state and its local communities. The funds can go toward things
like healthcare, education, infrastructure, school lunch programs,
and more.
Respond to
the Census online at 2020census.gov
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On
Thursday, Gov. Justice announced West Virginia has received
$625 million in funding from the federal government to assist the
State in its ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Governor added that West Virginia will also receive an
additional $625 million within the next two weeks, making for a
combined federal stimulus total of $1.25 billion.
“All along, I have believed that our President and Congress would
do the right thing and get us the money we are going to need to
rebuild West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said. “I want to commend
President Trump and our all our Congressional delegation for
securing this money. We are grateful beyond belief.”
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Also
Thursday, Gov. Justice participated in a videoconference with
President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and all of
the governors across America.
“It was all about ‘Opening Up America Again,’” Gov. Justice said.
“There were a lot of guidelines that he’s given us, as states, to
open back up. It would be my goal to get us back to work and a life
that’s close to the way we were before. But, my number one job is
to protect you all as best I possibly can. We will use our experts,
we will use the guidelines from the President, we will absolutely
use every means possible to make the very best decisions we can
possibly make.”
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Gov.
Justice also announced that, in order to provide assistance to West
Virginia’s hospitals, he has directed the West Virginia Department
of Health and Human Resources to immediately send out $69 million
in directed payment program checks to hospitals across the state.
The checks were due to go out in June, but are being sent now to
help infuse cash into hospitals as they manage through the
pandemic.
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On
Wednesday, Gov. Justice announced that he has begun to have
discussions with medical experts and other officials about
transitioning into the next phase of the State’s response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
While discussions are ongoing, the Governor did say that a main
tenant of this so-called “Phase 2” would be to fine-tune the
testing process for COVID-19.
“There’s lots and lots of contingencies that are already in the
works on how we’re going to be able to go about doing this and, as
we get further down the line, we want to be able to test on a
widespread basis in a much more dramatic way than we’ve done
before,” Gov. Justice said.
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Gov. Justice
also announced that checks,
valued at $100,000 each, went out to all 55
counties across West Virginia to allow for men and women on the
front lines fighting the spread of COVID-19 to receive “Hero Pay”
for their service to the state.
The funds may only be used by counties, cities, and municipalities
to cover expenses that are necessary expenditures incurred due to
the public health emergency with respect to the COVID-19
pandemic.
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Gov.
Justice announced Wednesday that many small businesses across West
Virginia are seeing relief from President Trump’s Paycheck
Protection Program.
As of April 13, 2020, there have been 5,211 loans approved for West
Virginia qualified participants, totaling more than $1.05 billion.
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During the
address, the Governor reiterated that any decisions on re-opening
schools will be made with the health and safety of students and
teachers as the top priority.
“Never, no way on this planet, am I going to think about putting
our students or our teachers back into a school setting until I’ve
been advised, over and over, by our experts that we are good to
go,” Gov. Justice said.
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Gov.
Justice also clarified that the State Holiday that typically
accompanies West Virginia’s Primary Election Day has been moved to
match the new primary date: June 9, 2020.
For more information on West Virginia's elections, visit GoVoteWV.com.
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The
Governor also announced that he has directed leaders with the West
Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the West
Virginia National Guard to address inconsistencies in the ways that
the State has been collecting data on COVID-19 cases.
“We’re bringing in additional resources to amp that up to where our
reporting is better, more timely, and accurate,” Gov. Justice said.
“I’m not going to tolerate it being inaccurate in any way.”
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On
Tuesday, Gov. Justice provided another update on the number of
COVID-19 cases in the state, saying that West Virginians’
commitment to practicing good social distancing and staying home
has the state “trending in a great way.”
“We absolutely have to stay the course,” Gov. Justice said. “But
you can see the results are really rock solid and, really, if we
can keep trending this way, hopefully we can go back to a way of
life where we’re working, and even the possibility of school, and
absolutely our polls will be open for a June 9th election, and all
the good things.
“We’ve got to be cautious. I don’t want to send everybody out
dancing in the streets right yet. But, absolutely, we’re getting
there and we’re getting better.”
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Gov.
Justice also provided an update on the State’s efforts to ensure
that students across West Virginia are continuing to be
well-nourished and fed during the ongoing statewide school closure,
through a collaborative effort between the West Virginia Department
of Education, Tourism Office, National Guard, and Department of
Agriculture.
“We now have a weekly capability of administering 1 million meals
per week to the students of West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said.
“This operation is unlike anything we’ve ever done before. But it’s
exactly what West Virginians always seem to do in times of
trouble.”
Click here
to read more about this multi-agency effort
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The
Governor also provided an update on a recent surge in coronavirus
cases at a Wayne County nursing home.
With 36 patients and 30 employees testing positive, the Governor
announced that the West Virginia National Guard and the Department
of Health and Human Resources are “working closely with the Wayne
County Health Department to ensure and try to help in every way
possible to get everybody through this.”
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On Monday,
Gov. Justice commended all West Virginians for their willingness to
continue the fight against the spread of COVID-19 by practicing
good social distancing through Easter weekend.
“I really appreciate all those that, on Easter Sunday, were able to
abide by our social distancing as much as possible and our Stay At
Home order,” Gov. Justice said. “I feel certain that, as a whole,
we were able to worship and be respectful of Easter, one of the
greatest holidays along with Christmas.”
The Governor also announced that numbers continue to show that West
Virginia is doing relatively well in terms of containing the spread
of COVID-19. However, the Governor also mourned several individuals
who lost their battle with the virus over the weekend.
“Believe me, I hate like crazy to make that report to you,” Gov.
Justice said. “Cathy and I pray every day that some way, somehow
this incline will stop. We know that probably that’s not going to
be the case because we are the highest risk state. And we’ve done
amazingly well from the standpoint of all of you and what you’ve
done as West Virginians. But, still, it’s just tough.
“We send our thoughts and prayers out to all,” Gov. Justice
continued. “We’ll just keep fighting this battle as hard as we can
possibly fight it.”
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An Executive
Order was issued by Gov. Justice, adding
Jackson County to the list of community clusters for the spread of
the virus. The order gives the local health departments in those
counties the authority to further restrict and tighten rules on
social distancing and essential services.
Twelve counties across West Virginia have now received this
designation.
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Gov.
Justice also announced that he has directed the West Virginia
Department of Health and Human Resources to issue a one-time, $500
payment to current recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF), also known as WV WORKS, as part of the state’s
ongoing response to COVID-19.
“There’s a bunch of people out there that this can help,” Gov.
Justice said. “This is a one-time payment, but we’re very, very
hopeful that this can bridge some difficult times.”
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Gov.
Justice announced that the West Virginia National Guard has put
together a mobile sanitizing trailer that can
be deployed across the state to sanitize N-95 masks using FDA
approved hydrogen peroxide vapors. This method can sanitize N-95
masks up to 20 times and we are able to process 1,500 masks every
three hours.
The Governor also announced that a network of West Virginians have
come together to begin developing more of these N-95 masks. The
West Virginia National Guard, in collaboration with researchers
from West Virginia University, and our colleges and community and
technical colleges, have developed a solution to address the
critical personal protective equipment shortage.
After working on a prototype, the National Guard stood up a Task
Force to coordinate the production of PPE throughout the state.
Total daily production could reach as high as 2,500 masks, with the
ultimate goal of being able to produce enough masks for every West
Virginian.
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Gov.
Justice reported that he took part in a conference call with Vice
President Mike Pence, where he requested additional gowns and
gloves for healthcare workers on the front lines of fighting
COVID-19 in West Virginia.
“I asked them to step up and do that. The response was very
positive from the Vice President and his team,” Gov. Justice said.
“I also asked that they give us the extension to be able to extend
the funding of our National Guard to 500 guardsmen for 60 days. I
think that will come very quickly.”
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Gov.
Justice also announced that, in response to the United States
Department of Transportation suspending its prohibition on food
trucks at federally funded rest areas, the West Virginia Division
of Highways has set
guidelines allowing for food trucks at rest
areas as a temporary measure to ease the burden on truck drivers
during the ongoing pandemic.
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Gov.
Justice also signed an Executive
Order at the request of the West Virginia Board
for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology that gives the board
discretion to waive the five-day limitation on out-of-state
licensees practicing speech-language pathology and audiology in
West Virginia.
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On Sunday,
Gov. Justice released a video message, wishing all West Virginians
a Happy Easter and thanking the public for the sacrifices that are
being made across the state in the interest of slowing the spread
of COVID-19.
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