CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia still does not have a confirmed coronavirus case out of eight tests, state officials said today.
Still, state leaders advised taking precautions. They announced, for instance, that the state’s Corrections system will be closed to visitors except for the lawyers representing defendants — and even they have been advised to use teleconferencing.
Colleges such as West Virginia University and Marshall are taking extended spring breaks and then transitioning to off campus, online classes. Public K-12 schools are likely to remain open unless an individual school has a confirmed case.
And for everyone else, the state health officer recommends serious handwashing and “social distancing” — preferably staying about six feet away from others.
“We don’t have any identified cases here, but we won’t be surprised when we find the first one,” said Dr. Cathy Slemp, the state health officer.
Testing
West Virginia’s testing capacity increased over last weekend, Slemp said, when the state lab gained testing ability.
Before that, tests had to be sent off to the Centers for Disease Control, creating a lag.
Slemp said a package available from CDC covers 300 to 400 tests. But she believes that can be doubled, and additional ones should arrive soon.
“We’d love to have unlimited supplies,” she said.
Testing in the commercial sector would help, she said, although that’s been slow to roll out all over the country.
“The system is catching itself up to have broader testing ability,” she said.
On overall capacity, Slemp later added, “I think the nation wishes we were testing more.”
Slemp said the testing focus has been on those who who are showing symptoms consistent with Covid-19 and who have credible reason for exposure such as recent travel to an area with an outbreak.
Or: individuals who are seriously ill, sometimes to the extent that they have had to be hospitalized, consistent with the virus’ symptoms but without exposure history.
Providers are first asked to rule out other causes, Slemp said.
Covid-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. Symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath may appear two to four days after exposure.
‘Social distancing’
States surrounding West Virginia all have confirmed cases of Covid-19 and are taking dramatic precautions.
Ohio, for instance, was moving to limit mass gatherings. Kentucky’s governor urged residents to avoid large crowds, including church services.
West Virginia has not gone to that extent yet.
“We would not make that recommendation. Individuals in the state are still relatively low risk,” said Bill Crouch, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Slemp’s advice focused mostly on individual habits: Cover your cough and sneeze into your elbow, she advised. Wash your hands.
“If you can put measures in place to dampen that curve and spread it out, it’s much more manageable to the community,” Slemp said.
West Virginia and Marshall universities each added an off-campus week to already-scheduled spring break and then planned to transition to off-campus, online learning.
Slemp and others said that is because they have high populations of international students who might be traveling home, as well as other students who might travel and then bring the virus to campus.
Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia’s higher education chancellor, spoke via teleconferencing. She said institutions are trying to “make sure their students aren’t coming back and posing a risk to the rest of West Virginia.”
By taking precautions, the colleges and others who forego large events are trying to slow the spread and reduce strain on health care providers, Slemp said.
“By doing proactive actions, they are trying to decrease that spread so health care systems will not be so overwhelmed,” Slemp said.
The K-12 system is unlikely to close, officials said. Younger patients have so far shown resistance to the virus, officials said, and closing school could be disruptive for those who depend on the support offered by programs such as school lunch.
“We know children are lower risk,” Slemp said.
She added, “When you close a school, there are many, many ramifications.”
She also specified, “We would be doing that more if we had a case in a school, an exposure widely in that school for some reason. We might work with that specific school to close it for a time period.”
West Virginia’s Corrections system is curtailing visitors, said Jeff Sandy, the secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety. Attorneys representing defendants may still continue to come ‘but we will recommend video conferencing,” Sandy said.
More public information
The officials at the press conference, which lasted a little less than an hour, said they intend to provide regular public updates.
They directed members of the public to a landing page dedicated to information about coronavirus in West Virginia.
Even more information is at CDC’s Situation Summary or at DHHR’s COVID-19 information hotline, 1-800-887-4304.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control this week advised older adults and people with chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or lung disease are at higher risk and should begin to take precautions:
“If a COVID-19 outbreak happens in your community, it could last for a long time. (An outbreak is when a large number of people suddenly get sick.) Depending on how severe the outbreak is, public health officials may recommend community actions to reduce people’s risk of being exposed to COVID-19.”
The advice includes having supplies on hand, avoiding contact with those who are sick and, if the virus starts to spread, staying home as much as possible.