MORGANTOWN — Testing, testing, testing. That was the repeated message of Friday’s COVID-19 briefing from the governor’s office.
Justice said he’s ordered the National Guard to add gold counties to its expanded testing regime.
The Department of Health and Human Resources coronavirus shows 10,794 tests were performed Wedneday and 9,589 Thursday. Not unexpectedly, the testing revealed a high number of positives – 524 in the 24 hours before the dashboard was updated Friday. The daily positivity percentage was 3.77% and the cumulative crept up to 2.91%.
Justice reiterated that this is in a way a good thing, because the vast majority of those positives didn’t know they carried the virus. “If that be the case,” he said, “and we’re able to ensure that we stop their spread, what’s that mean? It means, really, is we’re going to save somebody’s life if not a whole bunch of them.”
Justice referred to what he jokingly called the Marsh Syndrome: testing sites are in place but few are coming. “I’m getting sick and tired of listening to him tell me, ‘Governor, the people aren’t showing up. … We do not need the Marsh Syndrome to be right.”
Marsh made some comments based on an award ceremony in which National Guard Command Sgt. Major Phillip R. Cantrell, who is retiring after 32 years of service, the West Virginia Distinguished Service Medal.
A number of county emergency managers also were honored with Department of Homeland Security Freedom Awards.
In that context, Marsh said, “It is tie for each one of us to answer that call for service.” We need to maintain discipline of mask wearing and keeping our distance even while we’re tired of it.
If we do that, he said, “We are going to be the place in this country that people continue to look at and say, ‘Wow, how did they do it.’ … We need to answer the call together. Because if we don’t, I am very worried that dark days are coming.”
The statewide coronavirus death toll climbed from 436 Wednesday to 443 Thursday and 451 on Friday. Two Monongalia County residents were among those announced on Friday: and 82-year-old woman and an 83-year-old man.
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