MORGANTOWN — During his Friday briefing Gov. Jim Justice announced the removal of capacity restrictions on the state’s bars, restaurants, retail businesses and gyms.
The change went into effect at midnight and comes with the understanding that the state’s mask mandate remains in place and social distancing guidelines must continue to be followed.
Justice said bars and restaurants can return to 100% seating capacity. Likewise, capacity limits on retail stores and small businesses have been removed as have restrictions on gyms, fitness centers and museums.
The cap on social gatherings is being bumped from 75 to 100 and youth travel sports can commence, unless the county of the event turns red based on infection rate/percentage of positivity.
There are currently no red counties in the state as 33 of the state’s 55 counties are now green. Monongalia County is one of 10 in the yellow. There are eight gold counties and four in the orange.
The further lifting of social capacity restrictions comes within 24 hours of the one-year anniversary of Justice issuing a state of preparedness as West Virginia braced for the inevitable arrival of COVID-19 in significant numbers.
“Yesterday marked our one-year anniversary,” Justice said. “It’s been one tough marriage, has it not?”
Asked if the science supported less restriction, COVID-19 czar Dr. Clay Marsh said he is “100% comfortable,” praising Justice’s touch in easing the state back toward normal.
“The governor has been very consistent and, I think, really very talented at starting to move the rheostat and liberating some of the capacity issues because we are watching all this very carefully with our epidemiology group, and we’re not seeing outbreaks in these areas,” Marsh said.
Marsh tempered those remarks by noting everyone needs to remain aware that COVID-19 is still very much part of our lives. He pointed to the 70,000 new cases registered nationwide Thursday and the more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide in support of that warning.
Asked about states that have lifted their mask mandates in recent days, Justice reiterated he’s not a fan of masks, but he’s not willing to risk the consequences of moving prematurely to score political points or make the rounds in the press.
“I’m going to continue to listen to the medical experts. They highly, highly, highly recommend at this point in time to don’t just jump because others are jumping,” he said, later adding, “We’re going take it a little bit slow and easy and we’re going to hope and pray we get it right. We just don’t do something to look good in the media.”
In other news from Friday’s briefing, James Hoyer, who heads West Virginia’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Force for COVID-19 vaccines, said anyone of advanced age (65+) who has been waiting to hear about vaccinations can call the state’s vaccine hotline at 833-734-0965.
“If you’re in the age group but have not gotten a vaccine or have been waiting, call the hotline. Those calls come directly to the senior leadership and we push those directly to the county level,” he said.
Echoing sentiments shared by Justice and Marsh, Hoyer said now is not the time to let up.
“I ask all West Virginians on behalf of all those people the governor talked about who are on the front lines, let’s stay disciplined. Stay disciplined. We are close folks, but we’ve got to stay disciplined,” he said.
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