GREENBRIER COUNTY, W.Va. — Health officials in Greenbrier County were working on Wednesday morning to try to link a recent positive COVID-19 case to at least 33 others with confirmed ties to a single church, Lewisburg’s Graystone Baptist Church.
Dr. Bridgett Morrison, health officer for the Greenbrier County Health Department, said the 34th case initially appeared to be the result of community spread, meaning it was not directly connected to the church.
Tracers were working to verify that.
Additional negative tests came back Wednesday morning from free community testing events this past weekend at Dorie Miller Park in Lewisburg.
Other results from testing on Sunday and Monday were still pending.
Prior to the Lewisburg church outbreak, Greenbrier County had gone weeks without positive cases.
Overall, Dr. Morrison said what happened at Graystone Baptist Church should serve as a warning for residents in Greenbrier County and elsewhere.
“To have that many people in the church that have been diagnosed with the virus and to obtain it just goes to show how contagious this virus is, especially during specific periods of the infection,” she told MetroNews.
“You really have to be strict about the social distancing. Wearing a face mask while you’re in public is incredibly important. The majority of these people who have come down with the virus, in fact I believe all of them, were not wearing a mask.”
Graystone Baptist Church was going to be closed to parishioners for at least 14 days total following cleaning that was conducted last Sunday with support from the West Virginia National Guard.
The case number jump in Greenbrier County came two months ahead of the scheduled start of the State Fair of West Virginia in Fairlea.
Members of the State Fair Board met Tuesday to discuss the current COVID-19 situation.
Along with the State Fair, other large events were planned in Greenbrier County this summer at a time when many people were also traveling for vacations to areas with higher coronavirus numbers.
“I think there’s ways to do things safely, but it means that everybody needs to do their part to protect themselves and to protect others,” Dr. Morrison said.
“It gets down to if everybody can wear a mask and continue to practice good hygiene, use hand sanitizers, wash your hands and stay home if you’re sick, then that will help significantly.”