Governor Jim Justice laid out a plan Monday for the reopening of businesses in the state.
It is called “West Virginia Strong – The Comeback” Roadmap
The plan calls for
• Expanded testing capacity
• Increased hospital surge capacity while allowing elective medical procedures to restart this week.
• Ramping up of PPE supplies
• Ramping up of contact tracing capabilities
West Virginians should continue to
• Wear face coverings in public where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain
• Follow statewide Stay at Home Order until lifted
• Follow all county Health Department regulations
• Telework when possible
Opening Criteria
• Three consecutive days maintaining statewide Cumulative Percent of Positive Test Results below 3%. (As of Monday, April 27, West Virginia’s test results were 2.47%, down from a high of 19.4% on April 7.)
Allowing to open, NOT requiring to open
WEEK 1
• Hospitals and elective medical procedures
• Outpatient healthcare (working with boards and associations to develop appropriate criteria)
• Primary Care
• Dentistry
• Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy
• Psychological/mental health, etc.
• Testing of Daycare Staff
WEEK 2
• Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees
• Professional Services (by appointment only and waiting in vehicle instead of inside)
• Hair and nail salons, barbershops
• Dog grooming
• Outdoor dining at restaurants
• Churches and funerals with limited gathering size – every other pew, physical distancing, face coverings
All businesses adhering to physical distancing, sanitization and face coverings.
WEEK 3 – 6
• Office and government buildings
• Specialty retail stores
• Parks and/or restrooms and facilities at parks
• Gyms, fitness centers, recreational centers
• Dine-in restaurants
• Hotels
• Casinos
• Spas/massage parlors
• Remaining small businesses
Will be announced at least one week prior to reopening.
No timeline for reopening the following
• Nursing home visitation
• Entertainment venues
• Movie theaters
• Sporting events
• Concerts
• Gatherings larger than 25 people
Conditions for reopening to slow, stop or reverse
• An unexpected increase in COVID-19 positive hospitalizations
• Significant outbreaks of community-based transmission (not clusters or outbreaks in nursing home or vulnerable communities)
• This could be on a county by county or regional hotspot basis
• Cumulative percent of positive test results surges above 3%
Going Forward
• Guidance for each business sector will be released in advance
• Limitation on size of gatherings will remain in place until lifted
• Testing data tracked and analyzed daily
• Reopening plan will be modified as necessary
