(Editor’s note: This commentary was written and posted prior to Governor Justice releasing his reopening plan. You can read details of the plan here and here.) hk
As I have said before, Governor Jim Justice and his team have made good decisions during the pandemic. Yes, there have been some bumps along the way and some mixed messages at times but, generally, West Virginia has been able to minimize the impact of the virus.
However, state government’s response to the pandemic has two distinct parts—the closing and the reopening, and the latter is going to be trickier than the former.
Justice started the reopening process last week when he gave hospitals the green light to resume elective procedures. That was a logical first step. But what comes next and when? So far, Justice has been vague.
When repeatedly questioned at his news conference Friday about his plans he answered this way:
“We need additional masks or equipment and everything or additional testing abilities. It is an ongoing situation that will help us to monitor how fast we can move forward.”
“We’re going to have real live plans of what to do, but we’re not going to cannonball into the pool and then realize the pool didn’t have water in it.”
“Things are so complex. It is difficult to understand just as citizens of our great state; what’s the right thing to do?”
Could restaurants reopen with social distancing? “There’s things like that that we are looking at, but they’re still a ways away.”
From those comments and others it was evident that, as of last Friday, the Justice administration lacked a specific reopening plan. In fairness, the Governor has had opportunities to meet with his team since then and perhaps now there is a framework.
The state needs one. The vast majority of West Virginians have paid attention to the advisories and made good decisions. They have done what has been asked of them and they have witnessed the positive results.
But now West Virginians need to know how Justice plans to reopen the state. They need some proposed dates and guidelines they can prepare for and build on so they can adjust to whatever the new normal is going to be.
Clearly, any plan will come with significant caveats. If the virus spikes or there is a surge in an area, then those plans will change. West Virginians have already demonstrated their ability to shift direction and make accommodations, so they can handle midstream changes.
They also understand how regional differences might impact a rollout. Berkeley County and Braxton County are both in the same state, but very different parts of the state with much different threat levels.
Granted, these are very difficult decisions, ones with life and death consequences, but they are decisions that must be made, and sooner rather than later.