Young calls for more diligence in mask wearing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There were no West Virginia counties in the ‘red’ category on the state’s daily COVID-19 map for a second day in a row Thursday.

‘Red’ indicates the most significant spread of the virus with a rolling average of cases topping 25. There were six counties in the ‘orange’ category Thursday, one step away from ‘red,’ including Kanawha, Fayette, Putnam, Logan, Wayne and Monongalia counties. Wednesday was the first day since the map debuted that there were no counties in ‘red.’

The daily map shows Kanawha County with a rolling 7-day average of 22.5 COVID-19 cases. Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Executive Director Dr. Sherri Young said the numbers don’t surprise her. She said there remains community spread in her county.

“We’re seeing it spread through offices and congregate settings as well. We’ve had a few church outbreaks and other outbreaks,” Young said Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline.”

The health department is calling on residents to be more diligent in the wearing of masks.

“When you work in an office and you go in with your mask on and then you go into the break room and take off your mask and have lunch together and one of you is positive then you’re really not maximizing your mask usage,” Young said.

Young points to an example of six workers in one office who were wearing their masks at their desks but would take them off when they ate together. She said two of the six had COVID-19.

“They did everything perfectly when they were working. However, they sat two feet apart twice a day, having breakfast and lunch, took off their masks and it’s enough to have six people off of work for 14 days,” Young said.

During his Wednesday media briefing, Gov. Jim Justice announced federal CARES Act Monday would be used to ramp up testing in counties that have been in the ‘orange’ and ‘red.’ He announced earlier this week when a county hits those designations there would be testing sites set up within 24 hours.

“We need to provide the resources that our people need to be able to do all this testing, which is why I was happy to push this additional funding through,” Justice said Wednesday. “We’re already ramping up our testing significantly. But someway, somehow we’ve got to do even more.”

Young said Kanawha County, which has had 55 testing events since late-April, is in favor of additional testing because it will provide much needed information about a-symptomatic spreaders so the spread can be stopped. Young did say it would be difficult for her county to test seven days a week like it did last week.

“To do that every day throughout the pandemic is a little much because we have other things to attend to in our office settings,” Young said. “We’re working on getting three or four really big events this coming week and getting the big numbers out of them and getting out into different communities.”

The state Department of Health and Human Resources reported six additional COVID-19 deaths Thursday including a 69-year-old woman from Kanawha County, an 86-year-old man from Kanawha County, a 62-year-old woman and 72-year-old man from Fayette County, an 89-year-old man from Pleasants County and a 96-year-old woman from Mason County.

“Our deepest condolences are extended to these families for their loss,” DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said. “We are thankful for our healthcare professionals and all those on the front line who continue to treat West Virginians battling COVID-19.”

There are now 3,505 active cases in West Virginia, 202 cases were added Thursday morning. The state’s daily positive test rate landed at 4.11 percent. There are 173 people in the hospital, 57 patients in intensive care and 30 of them on ventilators.

Overall confirmed cases per county include: Barbour (52), Berkeley (968), Boone (206), Braxton (13), Brooke (111), Cabell (759), Calhoun (25), Clay (34), Doddridge (19), Fayette (583), Gilmer (39), Grant (156), Greenbrier (125), Hampshire (103), Hancock (145), Hardy (87), Harrison (346), Jackson (258), Jefferson (427), Kanawha (2,468), Lewis (38), Lincoln (157), Logan (599), Marion (261), Marshall (162), Mason (140), McDowell (80), Mercer (407), Mineral (171), Mingo (366), Monongalia (1,959), Monroe (147), Morgan (53), Nicholas (98), Ohio (362), Pendleton (52), Pleasants (16), Pocahontas (59), Preston (151), Putnam (529), Raleigh (497), Randolph (240), Ritchie (11), Roane (49), Summers (47), Taylor (120), Tucker (17), Tyler (15), Upshur (64), Wayne (381), Webster (7), Wetzel (51), Wirt (12), Wood (356), Wyoming (108).