West Virginia National Guard transitions to state-level COVID response, ready if further activation needed

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As the West Virginia National Guard’s longest federal mission ended last week when the COVID-19 response transitioned from federal to state-level, officials are reflecting on the past two plus years dealing with COVID-19 and what is ahead.

The West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) was first activated to help the state with its COVID-19 response in March 2020 with their work has been financed by the federal government. Gov. Jim Justice announced last week that 60 WVNG members will be on active duty from now through September to help the state’s InterAgency Task Force with the remaining logistics in the response.

Maj. Holli Nelson with the WVNG told MetroNews that the Guard did what they had do to during the federal mission.

Major Holli Nelson

“At the end of the day, what we were doing was helping West Virginians to stay safe. Whether it was transporting PPE, helping with vaccinations, doing contact tracing, anything that we needed it was a whole government approach,” Nelson said.

Since the beginning of the federal mission, the Guard helped maintain 5,779 COVID testing lanes, 11,187 vaccination lanes, more than 146,000 data entries, 5,200 delivery missions along with disinfecting of approximately 1,000 vehicles and facilities. Guard members helped with staffing needs in 37 hospitals.

Nelson said the 60 members remaining on active duty will mainly continue tasks they have been assigned – including logistical support such as vaccine delivery and assisting local health departments, the state Department of Health and Human Resources and the Joint InterAgency Task Force (JIAT). Members will also help the JIAT, led by retired State Adjutant General Jim Hoyer, with checks and balances.

State Adjutant General Bill Crane previously stated that the Guard will be ready if further activation is needed.

“We will be prepared to come back on duty and do the missions that are required to make sure our citizens are taken care of as they need to be,” Crane said.

Nelson added that the WVNG has taken lessons from the response, remembering the initial meetings as ‘building an airplane as we were flying it.’ She said the COVID-19 response has built crucial relationships within the government for the future, giving the Guard the ability to relay on InterAgency partners.

“We have truly built a great whole government response moving forward. Through the JIAT construct as well, we had people in the room making decisions and that is what was a key factor in us being so successful.”

Federal funding has covered 100 percent of the Guard response during the last 27 months. The funding formula changed July 1.

On Thursday, the state Department of Health and Human Resources confirmed 2,133 active cases of COVID-19 in the state. That level has been steady around the 2,000 mark since late May.





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