Alana Watson, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Prisoners And The Pandemic: A Year Into COVID, Crowded Jails Fuel Infections In Ohio Valley

When the first coronavirus cases were reported last year, Warren County, Kentucky, Jailer Stephen Harmon knew there was going to be a COVID-19 outbreak in his jail. It was just a matter of when.

“We tried our best to keep it from happening,” he said. “However with this many people in a fairly small spot, we knew that that was going to happen at some point so we responded to it as best we could.”

Warren County, KY, Jailer Stephen Harmon

New cleaning regimens and masks helped the jail prevent an outbreak until December, when Harmon’s prediction came true. More than 300 inmates and about 45 staffers tested positive before the outbreak was contained.

Harmon said that only three inmates got seriously ill and two had to be hospitalized. Fortunately, the facility reported no deaths due to the outbreak and the jail has stayed COVID-free since.

“It’s been difficult because this is a congregate setting, and it is overcrowded and there is no ability to truly socially distance as being prescribed by all of the health officials,” Harmon explained.

Crowded jails are a common problem in the Ohio Valley, largely fueled by arrests related to the region’s addiction crisis. For example, the Warren County facility has 562 beds. At one point last year, 760 inmates were in the facility.

It’s been a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, forcing all major institutions — including jails and prisons — to rapidly find ways to try to limit the spread of the virus. But some public health experts say those efforts have fallen short, and the rate of infection among incarcerated people around the Ohio Valley is far higher than that for the general public.

In Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia more than 15,000 state and federal inmates have tested positive for coronavirus and COVID-19 has claimed more than 200 lives among prisoners and staff in the three states. As outbreaks continue in some regional jails and prisons, attention now turns to the promise of vaccines, and questions about where incarcerated people will fall in the priority for receiving a shot.

COVID and Crowding

Throughout the region officials at correctional facilities mandated masks, limited social interaction, and made family visits virtual. They started testing transferred inmates and people with symptoms.

Some inmates with non-violent offenses were released to help with social distancing in already overcrowded jails. Regional officials placed those inmates on house arrest or on parole, but without a large number of the population being released, facilities still struggled to make space.

But despite the effort to reduce incarceration, some regional jailers found their inmate population increasing during the pandemic.

Athens County, OH, Sheriff Rodney Smith.

“There are more people in jail now than there was a year ago when the pandemic first hit. But still when someone tests positive for COVID they have to be isolated and that just takes up jail space.” Athens County, Ohio, Sheriff Rodney Smith said.

The largely rural county was hit hard by the opioid crisis and Smith said drug crime went up during the pandemic.

“If the numbers of people testing positive for COVID are down, we can put more people in the jail, but it just depends on how many people test positive,” he said. “We may have to reduce the amount of people in jail by virtue of ankle monitors or being released just to make room for these isolation cells.”

Smith said a lot is taken into consideration when trying to establish incarceration criteria.

“We put a lot of work into it and still do,” he said. “There’s always a problem with trying to find jail space.”

Positive Cases

Since the pandemic started, more than 15,000 people in prisons and jails around the Ohio Valley have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data from the COVID Prison Project, a database tracking COVID-19 in jails and prisons.

The group’s data show 7,631 inmates and 1,046 staff members in Kentucky have tested positive. The state’s infection rate among inmates was 32%. In Ohio, 7,275 inmates and 4,694 staff members have tested positive, and the infection rate among inmates is 15%. In West Virginia 1,525 inmates and 516 staff have tested positive and the state’s infection rate among inmates is 23%.

In all three states the rate of coronavirus infection among incarcerated people is far higher than the rates for the general public.

COVID Prison Project co-founder Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein.

Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein is an assistant professor of Social Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill and is the co-founder COVID Prison Project. She said the mitigation strategies in place aren’t enough to fully protect facilities and surrounding communities.

“Eleven million people in this country cycle through jails in any given year and so that same risk of bringing that exposure home is equal for staff and people who are incarcerated,” she said.

“I think some of these low hanging fruit things, like masks and testing, especially when it’s indicated when people are showing symptoms, there’s been change there and that change is important,” she said. “But I still think not nearly enough has been done in these big major ways to do things that we know work.”

Brinkley-Rubinstein believes there are two main ways to mitigate COVID in correctional facilities and to help reduce community spread: release people and vaccinate.

“To decarcerate, to have less people in crowded jails and prisons that are in close contact with each other who are spreading COVID very rapidly and that is one thing that we haven’t seen changed much at all,” she said.

Brinkley-Rubinstein said that efforts to reduce incarceration have fallen short and now attention is turning to the promise of vaccines.

Vaccinations

According to the COVID Prison Project, the death toll among inmates so far has been close to 200 in the Ohio Valley. In West Virginia, nine inmates and two staff members died from the virus; 134 inmates and 10 staff members in Ohio have died; and in Kentucky 46 inmates and five staff members have died. In Kentucky and Ohio the death rate due to COVID-19 among prisoners is higher than for the general population in those states.

Outbreaks in prisons and jails have accounted for a large number of cases reported in some rural countries such as Lyon County, Kentucky, and Pleasants County, West Virginia.

Betsy Jividen is a commissioner for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation in West Virginia. She’s hoping states will soon begin prioritizing vaccinations for inmates. According to Jividen, state officials are diligently working to get vaccines distributed.

“Inmate numbers are in their metrics. And, you know if and when that time comes, we’ll be ready to do it,” she said.

Brinkley-Rubinstein said prioritizing inmate vaccinations can help get the virus under control in correctional facilities, and she said prisoners seem eager to get a shot.

“In places that have surveyed people who are incarcerated and asked if they’d be willing to take it, we see much higher rates of acceptance then we might imagine,” she said. “And I think that’s for a number of reasons.”

Those reasons include the desire to have family visits again, and to alleviate the increased confinement due to COVID safety precautions.

So far, Ohio Valley states have offered vaccines to correctional facility staff, but not most inmates. Medically vulnerable inmates in Ohio have been offered vaccinations. Officials in Kentucky and West Virginia have not yet released plans to vaccinate inmates.

When a decision is made, Kentucky jailer Stephen Harmon is hoping the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be the one for them.

“It is a one-shot system,” he said. “Oftentimes, folks that are in custody, unless they are a state or federal inmate you may not have them in 21 days and a lot of times getting information to them once they’ve left is difficult.”

A recent surge in coronavirus cases in Kentucky’s Lyon County shows just how vulnerable incarcerated settings are. State officials said a spike in COVID cases there is associated with an outbreak in a prison. Lyon County is currently the only western Kentucky county where community spread is still at a critical level.

The Ohio Valley ReSource gets support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and our partner stations.

Ohio Valley Economists Weigh In On Biden’s Recovery Plan

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to cripple the economy in the Ohio Valley and President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats are pursuing his plan for economic recovery.

Biden’s economic priorities include raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, forgiving student loan debt, and undoing some Trump-era tax cuts. But Biden’s immediate focus is on his “American Rescue Plan” for economic recovery and ending the pandemic.

Last month Biden laid out his two-step plan for rescue and recovery.

“The crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight,” Biden said while giving an address about the plan. “We have to act, and we have to act now.”

President Joe Biden presents his economic recovery platform.

Regional economists have weighed in on what the Ohio Valley needs and many are in agreement that the region is in need of financial aid, job creation and security, and a national plan to end the pandemic.

Rescue

The rescue plan focuses on giving people immediate relief. It includes direct aid to individuals, businesses, and state and local governments. It also includes an expansion of COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution, an extension on unemployment benefits, and funds for schools to reopen.

Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Jason Bailey is the executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning nonprofit. Bailey said that Biden is making the right call by prioritizing relief first.

“Until we get herd immunity and get people vaccinated, we are going to have economic woes. There’s just no way around that,” he said. “We need to provide relief, so people aren’t falling into poverty or falling deeper into poverty in the meantime.”

Even before the onset of the pandemic, Ohio Valley states recorded poverty rates above national averages. Census Bureau data for 2019 show Kentucky and West Virginia with poverty rates of 16%, putting them among six states that have the highest estimated rates of poverty in the country.

The poverty rate gets worse for children and teenagers. Nearly one in four children under 5 years is living in poverty in Kentucky and West Virginia. One in five people under 18 live in poverty. These rates among children and teenagers are only seen in other 5 states in the nation.

Ohio’s poverty rate of 13% is closer to the American Community Survey’s national poverty rate of 12.3%, but the poverty rate for people under 18 is far higher at 18%.

Public Health & The Economy

One area public health expert says efforts to get the pandemic under control should have the scale and focus of the World War II Manhattan Project.

Ben Chandler, CEO of Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

“Every policy that he is putting in place now has to laser focus on getting us back to where we were before,” Ben Chandler, president of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky said. “Getting the vaccine in people’s arms, giving them the confidence to participate in the economy.”

The Ohio Valley saw massive unemployment in the early phases of the pandemic and cases, hospitalizations and deaths rose in the third wave. The cases and hospitalizations have declined since January, giving the states an opportunity to move their efforts toward COVID-19 vaccinations.

West Virginia is setting an example for the rest of the country as it leads the way by rapidly vaccinating its residents. The state had fully vaccinated 6.4% of its population as of February 11, the highest vaccination rate in the nation. The state also injected 12.4% of its 1.8 million people with the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines (which require two rounds of shots for full efficacy).

Kentucky gave first shots to 10.2% of its population while 9.5% of Ohio’s population have started vaccination.

WV is a national leader in vaccinating its people. But population-scale immunity is still a long way off.

Chandler said economic recovery is directly tied to public health.

“People don’t spend money if they aren’t confident. Being able to allow people to get out in public and go about their business and participate (in the economy) is necessary for that,” he said.

Focus on Infrastructure

The recovery aspect of Biden’s plan is geared towards job creation and growth. Biden wants to invest in infrastructure, clean energy, technology, and manufacturing to create millions of “good-paying” union jobs. According to senior researcher Amanda Woodrum with the non-profit research institute Policy Matters Ohio, infrastructure investment is a good way to create jobs essential for the region to prosper.

“The idea that we are calling for infrastructure that can build not only a more sustainable economy going forward but one that involves shared prosperity and build local wealth rather than that of absentee corporations,” she said.

Woodrum’s group tends toward left-of-center policies. But even more right-leaning economic groups agree that getting people back to work is what the country needs.

Garrett Ballengee, executive director of the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy.

Garrett Ballengee is the executive director of the right-leaning Cardinal Institute for West Virginia. He’s critical of some of Biden’s plans, including reversing tax cuts, but said some of the Biden policies are promising.

“I think it’s important to remember that we need to get people back to work as safely and as quickly as we can,” Ballengee said. “There’s really no substitute for earning a paycheck for a number of different reasons.”

It’s too early to say how much of Biden’s economic agenda will be approved by a narrowly divided Congress. But it’s a safe bet that regional lawmakers will be key players.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says Republicans will offer amendments to the quote “rushed process” of the plan. Even some more conservative Democrats, such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, could be a barrier to some of Biden’s economic goals.

But Kentucky Democratic representative John Yarmuth, chair of the House Budget Committee, stressed that the next phase of COVID-19 relief will get done regardless of Republican support.

Data reporter Suhail Bhat contributed to this story.

The Ohio Valley ReSource gets support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and our partner stations.

Ohio Valley Natural Gas Counties Get Small Piece Of National Economic Pie

An analysis of natural gas production in the Ohio Valley finds that the biggest gas producing counties in the region suffered economically over the past decade compared to the rest of the country, although natural gas production was high.

The report released Wednesday by the Ohio River Valley Institute, a nonprofit think tank, shows that 22 counties in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania produced more than 90% of the region’s natural gas, but saw declines in their share of income, population, and jobs between 2008 and 2019. Personal income and job growth in those counties lagged far behind the national average, and population declined.

The report includes Belmont, Carroll, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, and Noble Counties in Ohio. The West Virginia counties include Doddridge, Harrison, Marshal, Ohio, Ritchie, Tyler, and Wetzel. Eight Pennsylvania counties are also included.

Over 10 years ago, studies from industry and supporters said that natural gas production would boost local economies by providing new jobs and revenue. But according to the report titled, “Appalachia’s Natural Gas Counties: Contributing more to the U.S. economy and getting less in return”, job growth in the 22 counties only increased by 1.7%. Nationally, job growth grew by 10%.

Sean O’Leary is the principal author of the report. He said some economists that have been keeping up with the production of gas by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for years were surprised by the results of the study.

“It’s quite evident that not only among the public but even among policy makers, people in a position to know, they really don’t,” O’Leary said. “They really do imagine that there are more jobs and more development going on out there than in fact is the case.”

Economic output in the 22 counties increased by 60%but there was little input into local economies. Jobs decreased by 7.5%, population fell by 9.6 %, and personal income decreased by 6.3%.

O’Leary said that while money is being invested in the counties to produce gas and gas is being sold to produce revenue, very little of that is landing in the 22 counties.

“While the facilities are located in these counties, the people who build them, the material with which they are built, various professional services that are required to do all this, are for the most part acquired from outside of the region,” O’Leary explained.

A lot of the investments is money that is being paid to workers and service providers from outside the counties and it never reaches the local economy.

Joanne Kilgour is the executive director of the Institute. She said in a press release that it’s disappointing that the report was necessary. “You only have to look at what has happened to the downtowns in Bellaire, Steubenville, Wheeling, and Waynesburg to know that jobs and incomes haven’t been growing,” she said.

O’Leary explained that the natural gas industry is in a very vulnerable and risky place because of competition from renewable energy sources. He said it would be wise of policy makers to start exploring other options.

“We have a great opportunity as a region to participate in the efforts to switch to clean energy for a variety of reasons. Some of which are resources that we have locally that can be used in the development of renewable resources,” he said.

President Joe Biden plans to invest billions in clean energy innovation.

After 'Dark Day' In Washington, Ohio Valley Lawmakers And Residents Who Were There Take Stock

Owensboro, Kentucky, pastor Brian Gibson spoke at an event in Washington, D.C., Tuesday that combined religion with support for President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the election.

“How many of you all believe that the people we elected are going to do what’s right tomorrow?” Gibson asked the crowd at Washington’s Freedom Plaza, as flags emblazoned with Trump’s name fluttered behind him. “And they are going to stand against all of the injustice and the fake votes?”

Owensboro, KY, pastor Brian Gibson speaking at the “Prayer to Save America” event Jan. 5 in Washington, D.C.

Gibson was among the dozens — perhaps hundreds — of people who traveled from the Ohio Valley to attend events planned to coincide with the Congressional session on January 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College. That usually mundane ceremonial event makes official the election results, in this case making Joe Biden and Kamala Harris President and Vice President. But Gibson and others were hoping for a different outcome.

Gibson said he attended the Trump rally on Wednesday. There Trump repeated his false claims about a stolen election, pledged he would never concede, and urged the assembled crowd to march to the Capitol.

“We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness they need to take back this country, so let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump said as the rally concluded.

Gibson said his feet were freezing and he had returned to his hotel when he got a shocking phone call: People were forcing their way past Capitol police.

“How in the world do unarmed people storm the Capitol, which should be one of the most secure buildings in the United States of America when it’s in session?” he asked. He said he changed shoes and made his way to the Capitol to see for himself.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. People actually breached the doors,” Gibson said. He condemned the violence and said in his opinion a “few bad actors” ruined what had otherwise been a peaceful event.

“We’re In”

Derrick Evans, a recently elected member of the West Virginia state legislature from Wayne County, had traveled to Washington with a chartered bus load of people from West Virginia and neighboring parts of Kentucky and Ohio.

Image from video posted to social media by Derrick Evans

As originally reported by West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Evans posted on social media videos of himself with others who entered the Capitol along with the mob of extremists.

“We’re in!” a voice can be heard on the video. “We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol.”

The video clips showing Evans wearing a helmet and entering the Capitol were later deleted from his account, but not before the videos had been shared by others on multiple social media platforms.

Afterward, Evans claimed in a brief statement that he was in D.C. as an “independent member of the media to film history.” Some of his colleagues have called for his resignation or removal from the state legislature, and an online petition demanding his removal had gathered nearly 40,000 signatures by Thursday.

On Thursday a statement from a lawyer representing Evans said, “He engaged in no violence, no rioting, no destruction of property, and no illegal behavior.”

Prior to his election, Evans was known for extreme protests at West Virginia’s sole remaining abortion clinic, which led a judge to issue a restraining order against him for “stalking” and “repeated credible threats” against female employees at the clinic.

Still image from Evans video inside the Capitol as rioters forced their way in.

“Failed Insurrection”

Members of Congress were debating an objection to Arizona’s electors Wednesday afternoon when they were forced to flee the House and Senate chambers as the violent mob overran the Capitol. When they returned to business Wednesday evening lawmakers from around the region were quick to condemn the violence.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, now in the last days of his position as the Senate’s Majority Leader, made a strong statement in support of certifying the election results and called the violence that day a “failed insurrection.”

On the Senate floor, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul reflected on the speech he had written before the violence.

“I was planning to say I fear the chaos of establishing a precedent that Congress can overturn elections,” Paul said. “Boy, was I right. Chaos. Anarchy. It’s wrong and un-American.”

Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown called it a dark day. “Domestic terrorists attacked our seat of government, at the behest of the President of the United States,” Brown said in a statement. “This was his last, desperate attempt to overturn the will of the American voters.”

Brown’s Republican counterpart, Senator Rob Portman, said the U.S. Capitol “belongs to every American and is a symbol of the citadel of democracy. An attack on the Capitol building is an attack on every American.”

Portman said it was time for President Trump to “embrace the peaceful transfer of power.”

West Virginia’s Senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelly Moore Capito, told West Virginia MetroNews “Talkline” that the day had left a stain on America and that the president bore responsibility.

“Rudy said, ‘so let’s have a trial by combat,’” Manchin said of the rhetoric at Trump’s rally. “Don Jr. is instigating it. They’re all instigating it, so the President really is culpable for this.”

However, even after witnessing a violent insurrection, eight Republican Representatives from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia joined other Republicans in objections to some of the state electoral results.

Congress members who rejected the electoral college results

Those included Rep. Hal Rogers, who represents eastern Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District, who condemned the violence of the day as “un-American” while also explaining his votes to object to the electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Rogers cited no evidence of election fraud in his statement. Rather, he said, “I received hundreds of calls and emails from people across southern and eastern Kentucky questioning the integrity of the presidential election in other states.”

In recent past elections, Democratic lawmakers have challenged some state electors. But in those cases the losing candidates (Hillary Clinton and Al Gore) had already conceded the election, even though both had won the popular vote. (Gore had the unusual chore as Vice President of presiding over the Congressional certification of his own electoral defeat.) In this case, however, the objections came just after Trump had repeated his false claim of a “stolen election” and pledged to never concede.

The objections Wednesday failed in overwhelming votes in both chambers, but a new threshold had been crossed. With no evidence of electoral fraud, members of Congress had challenged an election in support of a president who defied the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark practice of authoritarianism.

“Two Republican Parties”

Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor and election law expert, said the events at the Capitol Wednesday were a direct result of people in the Republican party refusing to accept the results of the election.

“Absurd claims of massive voter fraud without any evidence whatsoever,” Douglas said, “and unfortunately millions of people have believed them.”

Wednesday was the final turn in a circle of misinformation: Months of repeated false claims from Trump and many of his supporters persuaded many Republican voters of a “stolen election.” Those voters then called and emailed their Congressmen, such as Rogers, who then used those calls and emails as justification to object to the election’s certification. That challenge to the certification became the focal point of demonstrations orchestrated by the Trump campaign, which had originated the false claims in the first place.

Douglas said that while McConnell’s statements Wednesday supporting the outcome of the election were “two months too late” they present a stark choice for Republicans, effectively creating two parties in one.

“There’s a Trump Republican party and the McConnell Republican party,” Douglas said. “The Republican party needs to decide which one it’s going to be, to support American democracy or not, because that’s the core tenet of our democracy, that the losers accept defeat.”

McConnell’s spouse, Elaine Chao of Kentucky, who has served as Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, made her decision on Thursday. Chao announced her resignation effective Monday — the first Trump cabinet member to do so since the insurrection. (Education Secretary Betsy DeVos became the second, announcing her resignation later in the day.)

In a statement to Transportation Department employees, Chao said, “Our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed. As I’m sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

Derrick Evans and others who made their way into the Capitol may have reason for concern as well. U.S. Attorneys around the region say they will pursue charges related to the insurrection if evidence supports it.

The U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, Robert Duncan Jr. and Russell Coleman, pledged to prosecute anyone who travelled from the region to DC to “commit violent criminal acts.”

U.S. Attorney William Powell, of West Virginia’s Northern District, said in a statement, “If we determine jurisdiction, and evidence warrants prosecution in the Northern District of West Virginia, I will not hesitate to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen released a statement Thursday vowing to identify and charge anyone who participated in Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol Building.

“We will continue to methodically assess evidence, charge crimes and make arrests in the coming days and weeks to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law,” Rosen’s statement said.

In the Capitol, even as cleanup and repair from Wednesday’s damage was still underway, lawmakers were considering calls for Trump’s removal from office.

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Democratic Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky have called for Trump’s removal, either by invoking the 25th Amendment or by a second impeachment, this one expedited in order to happen before the end of Trump’s term in less than two weeks.

“Every day that he remains in office is an unacceptable threat to our democracy and America’s place in the world,” Yarmuth said.

UPDATE: On Friday, Jan. 8, federal prosecutors charged Derrick Evans with entering a restricted area in connection with his actions at the Capitol, and Evans was taken into custody. Details here from our partners at West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

The Ohio Valley ReSource gets support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and our partner stations.

Watchdog Report Finds Over-Prescription Of Opioids For Some Medicaid Patients

A report from a federal oversight agency shows that over 4,000 patients in the Ohio Valley received high amounts of opioids in 2018 through Medicaid. The agency is encouraging states to enforce prescription drug monitoring programs and sharing data with Medicaid agencies.

The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services focused the report on six Appalachian states in support of their partnership with law enforcement agencies who are in the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force.

Patients are considered at serious risk if they’ve received an extreme amount of opioids, which is defined as 32 tablets or more of 5 milligram Percocet every day for a year.

If patients appear to be doctor shopping which means receiving high amounts of opioids from multiple prescribers and pharmacies, they are also considered at serious risk.

The report found five prescribers in Kentucky and 13 in Ohio have questionable prescribing patterns.

Hilary Slover served as a team leader for the study. She says the oversight agency is concerned with the potential impacts COVID-19 maybe having on treatment and opioid prescribing.

“During this time some Medicaid programs have relaxed rules and suspended safeguards like the requirement for face to face visits with prescribers to receive opioid prescriptions,” Slover said. “In addition, patients may be experiencing reduced access to in person treatment and recovery support. ”

COVID-19 could have a greater effect on patients with an opioid use disorder because the virus attacks the lungs. According to the report, respiratory disease is known to increase the risk of fatal overdose.

Slover says the IG’s Office will release reviews that will assess the trends and challenges of opioid prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic at a later date.

Report Shows Personal Income In The Ohio Valley Declined Between July and September

A new federal report shows that West Virginia and Kentucky saw the country’s sharpest declines in personal income last quarter. Alana Watson explains the losses are tied to the pandemic and declining support from the coronavirus relief act.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says personal income decreased in every state in the third quarter of 2020, which includes the months of July, August, and September. West Virginia and Kentucky saw the largest declines.

Income in West Virginia declined by almost 30 percent and Kentucky by 24 percent. Ohio’s personal income declined by 16 percent.

Personal income had increased in the second quarter from April to June due to the government’s economic support during partial COVID-19 shutdowns.

Matthew von Kerczek is an economist for the Bureau of Economic Analysis. He says the reduced COVID-19 aid from the CARES Act was one of the leading contributors to the decline in the third quarter.

“In the second quarter, the CARES act boosted personal income by about 3 trillion dollars. In the third quarter it’s just over 1 trillion dollars,” Kerczek said.

Von Kerczek says there was a partial rebound in earnings in the third quarter due to the gradual reopening of the economy.

The final 4th quarter report will be released in March 2021.