CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice joined State health leaders and officials from his administration at the Capitol Complex in Charleston today for a virtual press briefing to once again update the public on the many measures being taken in the interest of protecting the public from the spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Gov. Jim Justice reported Friday that West Virginia’s first community cluster outbreak of COVID-19 has been identified in the Eastern Panhandle.
“The reality is that we anticipated this with the Martinsburg area being so close to a major city, right at the backdoor to Washington, D.C.,” Gov. Justice said. “Be assured that we are dealing with this issue and we are working to do the things necessary to take care of addressing any hot spots in our state. People don’t need to be alarmed or scared, we just need to remember the power each one of us holds by staying home.”
Gov. Justice said that 60 positive cases have been confirmed in Berkeley and Jefferson counties and additional measures are being evaluated right now as it pertains to defining essential businesses operating in that region, as well as the rest of the state, and that changes and stricter enforcement could be forthcoming.
“It’s kind of been like the honor system out there so far and while we’ve been doing a good job and making progress, maybe we haven’t done it to the level that we need to,” Gov. Justice said. “Now we just got this information right before we started this briefing so we are working it and as we get more information we’ll get it out to you.”
State Health Officer Cathy Slemp said that the surge of cases in that area are not tied to “one facility or one entity” and said the spread of the coronavirus is throughout various parts of the community.
COVID Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said officials are “not surprised” by the news from the Eastern Panhandle because “we knew we’d have clusters” and noted that while residents need to remain vigilant, they should just continue staying separated and practicing good hygiene.
“This is not the time to panic, it’s the time to stay separated so the virus can’t spread rapidly,” Dr. Marsh said. “We are ready to support any care needs in the Eastern Panhandle as well as the rest of the state.”
Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch urged West Virginians to “stay the course” while “more cases and more clusters” develop.
“We continue to work on plans for a surge,” Sec. Crouch said.
