Citing alarm over worsening statewide covid numbers, Gov. Jim Justice announced that counties designated as orange on a color-coded map of virus spread should not have classroom instruction.
Counties that started the school year on orange had to do remote learning only. But previously, counties that started the school year and then turned orange could continue in classrooms with heightened precautions.
Any status changes would be prompted by the 5 p.m. Saturday release of the map, not by any changes reflected in updates during the week.
“We do not go back to school if you’re in the orange” on Saturday, Justice said. “It’s not safe in my opinion for you to do that.”
If numbers shown on Friday hold, then 11 of West Virginia’s 55 counties would be on remote learning next week.
Monongalia County was on red, the highest designation.
Kanawha, Putnam, Fayette, Monroe, Mercer, Logan, Mingo and Wayne were on orange entering this week, which meant they had to start the school year on remote learning. Mercer improved to yellow.
Pocahontas, Calhoun and Boone all moved to orange this week. Previously they could have continued with in-class instruction but now cannot.
The colors are determined by daily positive tests adjusted for 100,000 population. Small counties are on a 14-day rolling average while bigger counties are on a 7-day rolling average.
Orange is a fairly broad category: 10 to 24.9 cases.
The orange designation also affects extracurricular activities.
Until now, prep sports teams on a red designation had to stop entirely. Counties on orange could practice but not play.
Justice today said he wants to change that and limit teams on orange to conditioning only. He said continued conditioning is meant to assure young athletes can avoid injury from falling out of shape if the season stops and then starts again.
“I really believe now that we’ve got to tweak that just a little bit and say we will allow conditioning to continue but we have to some way back away from face to face contact,” he said.
“So we’re going to modify that as well to allow our athletes to continue to condition. But as far as face to face stuff and contact, we’re going to have to back away from that.”
Justice hinted that other changes to how the color-coded map affects activities in West Virginia could be considered.
He was reacting to worsening statewide numbers.
West Virginia for days has been worst in the nation for its rate of spread, now 1.42.
“For every person positive, we are infecting one and a half times that number of people,” Justice said. “The rate being the highest in the country is surely alarming.”
West Virginia’s positivity rate — the number of positive results divided by overall tests — was 4.18 percent, higher than the governor would like. Prior days were 4.89 percent, 7.58 percent and 6.96 percent.
“We have got to step it up. This is going the wrong way,” Justice said. “To just tell it like it is, we’ve got to get afraid again.”
As he has for months, the governor urged citizens to socially distance, wear facial coverings in public and to wash their hands regularly.
“If we continue we will have to take additional action,” he said toward the end of today’s briefing. “And that additional action will be starting to shut things down.”
Several reporters asked questions aimed at explaining why the map affects classroom instruction and extracurricular activities but not most other activities. It does affect visitation and activities at nursing homes.
Kennie Bass of WCHS-TV asked about fall baseball events happening this weekend in some counties. Justice didn’t seem clear on who would have jurisdiction over those events outside the school system.
But the governor said, “I would say we don’t need to be doing that. That’s all there is to it.”
He continued, “This is the very thing that if it’s done and done in the wrong way will lead to more problems.”
MetroNews asked the governor to explain the philosophical difference between school activities being discontinued but other activities continuing — providing as examples a motocross event scheduled for this weekend in Fayette County, which is orange, and an antique car show last weekend at The Greenbrier, which the governor’s family owns.
“I surely didn’t go to the antique car show at The Greenbrier, but I know we’ve always got to put in a little dagger back toward the governor because he owns The Greenbrier and all that bit.”
The governor then said both the motocross event and the antique car show were following covid health protocols.
More broadly, the governor said activities in counties designated as orange or red should be under greater scrutiny. “We should vet these events and vet these events and vet these events very, very carefully to where we absolutely are sure that we can have it safely — or we shouldn’t be having it at all.”
Joe Severino of The Charleston Gazette-Mail noted that places where adults are spreading the virus are not being closed — only schools get closed. He asked, “When is it time to start holding adults accountable for putting counties into the orange.”
Justice said he agreed with that.
“We’re looking at it,” the governor said, “and as time goes forward I’m sure we’ll be making more and more changes.”