CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senator Ron Stollings, a doctor who is also running for governor, is looking for $2 million to help West Virginia’s preparation for a possible coronavirus outbreak.
“Where it comes from is not important,” said Stollings, D-Boone. “It’s just that we get some money, even if it’s the rainy day fund.”
Stollings made his remarks at the end of Friday’s Senate floor session. The Senate has been moving its proposed budget of more than $4.5 billion.
The trouble is, Stollings and others said, there’s not much give. Senators have other priorities such as an additional $10 million to eliminate a wait list for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to receive care at home.
This is already a flat budget year, and West Virginia’s constitution calls for a balanced budget. So Stollings is trying to identify an ounce of funding that might head off a pound of cure while the world braces for a possible epidemic.
“I think it’s really important for us to allocate this $2 million so we can get ahead of this coronavirus,” he said. “We need to do something now. We need a plan now.”
Governors and legislators in several states have proposed pumping millions of dollars into programs to combat the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, according to The Associated Press.
President Trump has requested an additional $2.5 billion to combat the virus, while congressional Democrats have proposed nearly four times that amount.
The Centers for Disease Control says person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in the United States. Widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States would translate into large numbers of people needing medical care at the same time.
Reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death. Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. At this time, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications approved to treat it.
So far there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in West Virginia and no patients were in the process of being tested or were otherwise under investigation for the illness, Dr. Cathy Slemp, West Virginia state health officer, said this week on MetroNews “Talkline.”
In West Virginia, the immediate health risk was said to be “low,” but that had the potential to change quickly.
“As we begin to think about the potential for community spread, now’s the time to prepare around that and so that starts to engage all of us,” said Slemp, who is also commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health in the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
“Just like you would prepare for snowstorms or other kinds of things, it’s worth taking those steps to make sure.”
Dr. Cathy Slemp, Commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health and State Health Officer gives @HoppyKercheval her insights on preparations for coronavirus. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/bO6LuUPT0Q
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) February 27, 2020
States like Texas, Washington, Minnesota, Ohio and Kentucky are assembling plans to get ready for the coronavirus.
Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, D-Pendleton, asked during a House Finance meeting on Thursday afternoon whether the state budget in any way reflects additional funding to prepare for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus.
“I am concerned about this budget. We are going into a recession, and we have absolutely no money set aside for our health departments,” Sponaugle said.
“This is starting to become an epidemic. We haven’t done anything or spoken about it whatsoever. We have got to be very serious about this as a state when it comes.”
Sponaugle added, “It would be helpful if the governor’s people would come here and advise the Legislature on where we need to assist.”
Two million dollars is a conservative amount, Stollings said in an interview prior to the Senate floor session. He said it’s just startup funds for “communication, education, messaging and some equipment.”
Stollings said there has not been enough public discussion about West Virginia’s preparation so far.
“We absolutely need to be thinking and planning for this coronavirus,” he said. “It’s a virus that’s going to get out into the public. We can’t stop it. There’s no treatment for it. There’s no vaccination for it. So mostly what we have to do is have a statewide plan and excellent communication system between all the health departments.”
He concluded, “If we can’t limit the spread then this could be very impactful. And we’re not ready, I don’t think, at this point.”