MORGANTOWN — Bureau of Public Health Commissioner Cathy Slemp provided the promised overview of COVID-19 testing at the state’s 123 nursing homes during Tuesday’s press briefing.
She recapped what led to the governor’s April 17 executive order that mandated testing at all the homes. At that time, eight facilities had outbreaks with four of those involving more than 20 residents.
The state tested 9,000 residents and nearly 14,000 staff, she said. The majority of the homes, 71%, had no positive cases.
The testing identified at least one positive case at 28 homes – 23% of the total. Altogether, 31 staff and 11 residents were newly identified as positive. That was 0.18% of all the tests.
Of the 28 homes with new cases, she said, 20 had only one positive test. About 70% of those had no identified link to another positive case, and many of them tested negative on a subsequent test.
The remaining eight homes had two to six cases each. “They were very, very small outbreaks.” The spreads were either contained early or the people were not highly infectious.
Slemp also reported that the bureau has received an allotment of the drug remdesivir for treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir is an investigational new drug developed by Gilead Sciences and was approved by the FDA in May for use in seriously ill patients.
Slemp said there is no indication of its effective for mild or moderate COVID-19. It may shorten the course of the illness. The allotment was given to the state by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The bureau worked with experts around the state to develop a statewide protocol for its use and it has been distributed, she said. No one knows the extent of its benefits yet, but it’s another tool in the toolbox.
Gov. Jim Justice repeated and updated an announcement issued Monday that the first positive COVID-19 case in the state’s prison system was identified, at Huttonsville Correctional Center: a 62-year-old inmate. A part-time corrections officer also tested positive but officials don’t believe the cases are connected.
The Division of Corrections is testing the entire block where the inmate is housed, Justice said; if more positives are identified they will test the entire prison population.
Justice’s General Counsel Brian Abraham said local health officials believe they have identified “person zero” who brought it in and the prison has put protective measures in place, including PPE for the inmates.
Justice reminded the cities and counties that they can apply for CARES Act money to cover COVID-19-related expenses at grants.wv.gov. The rules are restrictive, he said, so “you don’t have to include everything in the kitchen sink.” They should apply now for what they can immediately connect to COVID-19 and apply for more when the rules are loosened.
Justice also said that CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program money for small businesses is still available, and business owners having trouble navigating the loan process should be able to find help by emailing wvinfo@sba.gov.
Department of Health and Human Resource Secretary Bill Crouch said that people who receive SNAP benefits can now shop and use their EBT cards online. They can shop at Amazon; Walmart is also gearing up, with the stores in Elkins and Martinsburg accepting EBT cards online and 21 more stres preparing to join.
Justice previously said that it looked like the state could pay its bills through the first week of June. Asked about that Tuesday, he said finances are still bad but it looks like there’s cash to get through to the end of June.
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh took a question on whether it’s possible to extrapolate the COVID-19 infection rate in the general population from what we know of those who’ve been tested.
He didn’t say, as such, but observed that the virus is present everywhere and one expert author has said that the infection rate may be 800 times the number of deaths in community-acquired locations.
More important, he said, is to maintain protection. West Virginians will be coming into closer contact with infected people as state opens up. We need to be careful around people we don’t deal regularly with. And we need to wear masks – partly to protect ourselves but more to protect others if we are infected and don’t know it.
Justice also fielded a question on what his advice is for people itching to begin their summer.
He said, “What would we do if we were invaded by another country?” People want to enjoy the days ahead, “I get every bit of that.”
But it’s not that simple, he said. “You’ve got to know that this situation is all hands on deck.” We can protect ourselves, and if we don’t, “it’ll bite you and everyone. … It’s a killer and it’s here and we as West Virginians have got to do something about it.”
So, he said, enjoy what’s available as we slowly reopen, and be smart.
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