CHARLESTON — The West Virginia National Guard issued a statement Tuesday about a person who was training at Camp Dawson possibly having been exposed to coronavirus.
“An individual assigned to the West Virginia National Guard, who was undergoing training at Camp Dawson, was informed by their civilian employer on March 8 that they may have had direct contact with an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19. The suspected contact took place Feb. 29, at the service member’s employment location,” which is outside West Virginia, the statement said.
Since being notified Sunday, the service member began self-quarantine and left Camp Dawson Monday to return to his or her home in Virginia, according to the release.
“The service member has not displayed any symptoms and has remained under self-quarantine. Based on medical guidance, the incubation period for COVID-19 is 14 days. The service member’s incubation period for exposure will end on March 14,” the Guard said in the release.
The Guard said there “is limited risk to the public and anyone who works on or has visited Camp Dawson. Out of an abundance of caution, we are taking all precautionary measures to protect the health of our force and maintain operational readiness.”
It will “continue to evaluate current day-to-day operations to ensure the safety of all personnel working and training at Camp Dawson.”
Preston County Health Department Director V.J. Davis said he learned about the incident at the end of the day Tuesday, when the Preston County Office of Emergency Services passed along the news release.
“We’re going to definitely monitor it and keep track of it,” Davis said.
To his knowledge, the possibly exposed person is under self-quarantine in Virginia, Davis noted.
“At this point in time, if anyone who was around him, while he was at Camp Dawson, started exhibiting flu like symptoms, we would encourage them to either call the health department or hotline and not just go to the hospital,” Davis said. “We would probably ask a series of questions with them to determine if they would be someone who would need to be tested or not.”
The Preston Health Department can be reached at 304-329-0096.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has set up a 24-hour hotline to address public and medical provider questions and concerns regarding COVID-19 at 1-800-887-4304. For the most up-to-date information, go to coronavirus.wv.gov or www.cdc.gov/COVID19.
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