UPDATE 1:30 p.m. Monday Gov. Jim Justice has ordered a stay-at-home order for West Virginia beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
MORE Read executive order here
I have issued a “stay at home” order for all of WV. We need to continue to work together to slow the spread of #COVID19. This order asks West Virginians to stay at home and limit movements outside beyond essential needs. Visit https://t.co/oYGVnnqjLf for more details. #StayHomeWV pic.twitter.com/HTBTVVh9us
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) March 23, 2020
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It appears West Virginia has its first confirmed coronavirus case that come from community spread instead of from traveling outside the state.
WVU Health Sciences Executive Dean Dr. Clay Marsh said Monday on MetroNews “Talkline” the case was one of those confirmed over the weekend.
“That’s what we believe. We haven’t finished doing all of the studies but that is apparently true and that is a threshold breaker for us,” Marsh said.
As of Sunday night, the state had confirmed 16 positive cases in the Mountain State. Marsh said health officials have been monitoring for a community spread case.
“This was somebody who was here in West Virginia. So it tells now that the virus is within the state and can be spread from person-to-person,” Marsh said. “That is a concerning new observation for us and that’s part of what we’ve been following.”
.@claymarsh, Vice President and Executive dean for Health Sciences at WVU, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/l57YsA1scF
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) March 23, 2020
Marsh said learning of a community spread case should cause state officials to be more aggressive and call on state residents to be more vigilant in following social distancing standards and the closure orders that are in effect.
“It’s always been our plan to monitor these things and when something changes that gives us an indication that we are needing to go to a different level,” Marsh said.