MORGANTOWN — Wednesday saw a state all-time high for new COVID-19 cases. On the positive side, the CDC updated its mask guidance on Tuesday to say masks protect the people who are wearing them.
Gov. Jim Justice opened his Wednesday COVID briefing, as he always does, with the death toll, now 553, with 23 since Monday.
In the last 24 hours, 885 new cases were reported. “This is a record beyond belief,” he said. “This thing has amped up and it keeps getting worse and worse.”
Part of that stemmed from the high number of tests – 10,928 on Tuesday. “That’s why we’re finding all these additional positives. It will pay big dividends for us if we just continue to test.”
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh added that while increased testing does identify new cases, the cases reflect real activity in West Virginia. Outbreaks generally start in community settings: at gatherings of family and friends, parties, gyms, bars, coffee shops, restaurants. Places where people are getting close and not wearing masks.
He said once again that there are four parts to the strategy for combating the virus: extensive testing; contact tracing so people with the virus can be identified and separated; mitigation, meaning masks, distancing and the three Cs – avoid close spaces, close contact (especially being with the same people consistently for 15-30 minutes) and crowds.
“It is really time for us to rally together and answer this call to service on this very special Veterans Day,” he said.
Wednesday was Veterans Day and all the officials paid tribute to those who have served and are serving.
Adjutant General James Hoyer said the day is “about recognizing that ordinary people stepped up and made extraordinary sacrifices.” In that light, all West Virginians should do what they need to do to contain the virus. “Take on that responsibility to do the things we need to do to address that threat.”
Masks
The CDC has supported wearing masks to help prevent people with COVID who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic form spreading the virus to others but on Tuesday acknowledged that masks also benefit the wearers.
It said, “Masks are primarily intended to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets. … Masks also help reduce inhalation of these droplets by the wearer. The community benefit of masking for SARS-CoV-2 control is due to the combination of these effects; individual prevention benefit increases with increasing numbers of people using masks consistently and correctly.”
The Dominion Post asked Marsh to elaborate on the CDC’s findings. He said that it’s been known that certain types of masks – such as properly fitted N95 masks – protect the wearers from those with the virus.
But recent research now shows, he said that the mutli-layer cloth masks most people wear every day also offer protection by reducing the dose of virus the wearer is exposed to.
The CDC says, “Studies demonstrate that cloth mask materials can also reduce wearers’ exposure to infectious droplets through filtration. …. The relative filtration effectiveness of various masks has varied widely across studies, in large part due to variation in experimental design and particle sizes analyzed. Multiple layers of cloth with higher thread counts have demonstrated superior performance compared to single layers of cloth with lower thread counts,”
Marsh cited one incidence where two hairdressers who were infected served 100 clients and none of them got sick because all were wearing masks.
Holiday plans
Bureau for Public Health Commissioner Ayne Amjad offered some recommendations for those planning holiday gatherings.
Limit the size of your gathering, she said, preferably just immediate family. People should get tested at least five days before they gather. People who are sick or have symptoms shouldn’t attend.
The Department of Health and Human Resources has a link to preparations for gatherings and parties on its dashboard page, https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx. The link is a box on the right-hand side and says “Are you prepared?”
What if …
Justice took a question on what enforceable rules he might put in place if the pandemic continues worsening here.
He said the governor can issue executive orders – such as a mask mandate – but can’t create criminal offenses. Private businesses have the right to enforce a mask mandate on their property by refusing entry, and the state has some control over businesses that are licensed.
“I don’t know what else I can do,” he said, other than shutting everything down again, with al of those negative consequences. He and his team are considering various possibilities, such as keeping schools closed after Thanksgiving.
“Our West Virginian people are tired,” he said. “Our people across the country are tired. Today we have become lackadaisical to some degree and that makes us tired. … You’re not really tired; you have made yourself mentally tired.”
But if an enemy came to West Virginia’s borders, people would stand up, ready. “That’s exactly what we’ve got. The enemy’s at our borders.”
Tweet David Beard@dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
