CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dr. Sherri Young, the chief health officer of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department expects Kanawha County to stay in the orange on the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ COVID-19 coded map ‘for a while.’
Young spoke with MetroNews while on-site Wednesday at the Schoenbaum Family Enrichment Center for the health department’s 46th drive-thru testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kanawha County, which has a 7-day rolling average of 12.19 cases per 100,000 people as of Wednesday, has been in the color orange for the past week. Orange is 10-24.9 cases per 100,000 and means schools are not able to hold in-person classes and athletic events are canceled.
“We (Kanawha County) have been staying in the orange and I anticipate we will be staying in the orange for a while. At least the next week,” Young told MetroNews of the county’s color.
“I hate that is the case for school and sports but if it is not safe for them to go back, we want to make sure we have it under control before they do go back.”
Young said she would be comfortable with extracurricular activities taking place in schools if mass testing was going on and the status of everybody was known.
On Monday, Gov. Jim Justice allowed the counties in orange to test everybody on teams and if there were zero positive cases, the teams could play. Those counties, Kanawha, Logan and Fayette all declined the mass testing.
Young said the department had two testing events set up for the county athletes and staff but the school system decided resources were better used for getting ready for the school year.
“It was available and if they need it again at any point we are going to support the school system, we are going to support the state and we are going to support this county, and make this testing available when and where we need to,” Young said.
VIEW: The DHHR county alert system map
Schools across the state are slated to begin Sept. 8, some in-person and some online. Young said Kanawha County must find a way to get the virus under control before even thinking of returning children to buildings.
“My fear is not only for the children but for the parents and grandparents they go home to. We want to make it safe for them,” Young said.
“Even if children typically have a better outcome, we have a lot of grandparents taking care of their families right now.”
The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department reported Wednesday there are 1,565 total COVID-19 cases in the county, up 80 from Tuesday. Of those, 1,550 are confirmed cases and 15 are probable cases.
Officials also stated active cases are at 444, up 49 from Tuesday.
Recovered cases are at 1,080, up 27 from Tuesday. There have been 41 COVID-19 associated deaths in the county after three were added Wednesday.
Young said between 400 and 800 people are tested at the drive-thru events in the past and expected a similar number for Wednesday.
“We not only have had outbreaks within facilities such as jails and nursing homes, but we have also had a lot of community spread,” Young said.
“The thing we want to do to make it safe for everyone is to drive home the guidelines of wear a mask, make sure you’re washing your hands and keep that social distance.”