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Gov. Justice Mandates Masks In Buildings Outside Of Homes, But Says It Won’t Be Enforced

Updated Monday, July 6, 2020 at 5:40 p.m.

Citing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has ordered masks to be worn in buildings outside of a resident’s home.

In a virtual news conference Monday, Justice said he is issuing an order that will require anyone over 9 years old to wear a face covering in “all confined indoor spaces where social distancing cannot be maintained.” Justice said there are exceptions for people with certain breathing conditions and those who cannot otherwise remove a mask on their own.

The directive goes into effect Tuesday, July 7 at 12 a.m.

Justice, who had been reluctant for more than a month to mandate face coverings, had warned last week of the possibility of such an order.

“It is — at this point in time — in my opinion, the only thing to do,” he said.

The governor had acknowledged that masks have become a particularly divisive issue, with many Americans flat out refusing to make use of them.

“I surely know that this is not a popular thing in a lot of ways,” he said. “But I’m gonna do what the right thing is — popular or not popular.”

Justice said there will be no formal enforcement of the order and that there will be no criminal penalty for not wearing a mask or face covering in a building outside of one’s home. He said he is confident local business owners across the state will properly enforce the order.

“If we come out right out of the get go and we start saying we’re going to levy fines or we’re going to do this or that and everything else, it just pushes us and pushes us to be more divisive, more divided. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in West Virginia,” Justice said.

Over the three-day holiday weekend, West Virginia health officials reported more than 270 new cases of the coronavirus. On Sunday alone, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported 130 new cases — by far the highest number of cases the state has reported in a day since the pandemic began months ago.

Asked by West Virginia Public Broadcasting why he did not issue the mandate before the holiday, Justice said he did see the potential for the order coming, but he wanted to make the decision based on testing data from the weekend.

“We had to give some level of time. In addition to that, our hospital numbers still look great — and we’re still in great shape there.” Justice said. “And we really wanted to just continue through the holiday, and just see what the numbers [bore] through the holiday.”

Those advising Justice also spoke up Monday to support the order, including state coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh.

“We had done quite well, even on a national basis, related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had, at one time, one of the best scores on this reproductively — the R-naught or not R-t level — how fast the virus is spreading,” Marsh said.

Marsh said that the state’s R-naught level had at one time been 0.6, indicating that the virus was diminishing. However, he said the measurement of the virus’ spread had jumped to 1.27 in recent days.

Marsh also cited a meta analysis published in the medical journal The Lancetthat indicates that masks are the most effective way to prevent the spread of the virus. The research analyzed 172 studies from 16 different countries.

West Virginia joins more than a dozen other states in mandating masks in some capacity. The sheriff of Los Angeles County said he would impose a $300 fine for not following California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mask order.

The face covering mandate comes as West Virginia has seen a sharp increase in cases reported over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. But the virus’ impact on any holiday revelry may not be known for some time, as the incubation period for the new coronavirus is 2 to 14 days.

As of Monday evening, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 3,442 cases of the coronavirus. Ninety-five deaths in the state have been attributed to COVID-19.

Justice referenced those who’ve died as he called on West Virginians to abide by the mask order.

“If you don’t decide to wear the mask for yourself — or the face covering — if you don’t decide to wear it for one of your loved ones or your friends, do it for the 95 that have died,” he said.

Masks Emerge As Top Issue At Eastern Panhandle Virtual COVID-19 Town Hall

The debate over whether to wear face masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus steered much of the discussion during a virtual town hall in the Eastern Panhandle Wednesday night. The Jefferson County Commission hosted the event with local medical professionals.

The aim of the event, attended by more than 50 people, was to educate and answer questions from the region experiencing the highest number of positive coronavirus cases in West Virginia.

Callers asked questions on a wide variety of topics, such as contact tracing, antibody tests, immunity and vaccines, but one issue came up frequently – whether cloth face masks should be mandated or continue to be voluntary, and how they help against the virus.

Gov. Jim Justice has repeatedly urged West Virginians to wear a mask while out in public but has not made it a requirement as some states and U.S. cities have done. He said Thursday in a virtual press briefing that he may institute a measure next week as state cases continue to rise.

Panelists did not say whether masks should be mandated in West Virginia, but Eastern Panhandle health officer Dr. Terrence Reidy did point to evidence that shows wearing a simple cloth mask while out in public does help protect others by limiting the spread of COVID-19.

“If I cough, if I sneeze,” Reidy said, “it’s going to greatly decrease the chance of spreading, if I happen to have the virus.”

As cases of the virus spike in some states, one caller asked whether West Virginia might experience another shut down as it did in March when Justice issued his stay-at-home order.

Panelist Dr. David Baltierra, interim chair of Family Medicine in Berkeley County under WVU Medicine East, said masks are key if West Virginians don’t want to see another statewide shut down.

“The masks actually keep you going,” said Baltierra. “And so, it’s a way to keep not having to close everything down.”

A month ago, the Shepherdstown Town Council passed a resolution strongly encouraging businesses in town to require face masks of customers.

Last week, the Harpers Ferry Town Council followed Shepherdstown’s example and passed a similar resolution.

On Tuesday, the Shepherdstown Town Council passed another resolution calling on the governor to require masks in public places throughout the state.

Berkeley County leads the state in positive case numbers with more than 440 confirmed. Its neighbor, Jefferson County, has confirmed more than 220 cases of the virus.

To-date, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports that more than 3,000 cases of the virus have been identified in West Virginia, and at least 93 people have died.

Gov. Justice Considering Mask Mandate For West Virginians While In Buildings Outside Of Homes

Gov. Jim Justice is warning that he may mandate masks be worn in public beginning next week. That warning comes as West Virginia reported its highest daily number of new coronavirus cases since mid-May.

In a virtual news briefing held Thursday, Justice said he is considering an order that would mandate residents wear masks in buildings outside of their homes.

“I want to give you notice that, right now, I am terribly concerned about what’s coming,” he said.

Justice said he will revisit the issue and make a decision next week, possibly as soon as Monday.

“The way you stop this is masks — wearing your mask,” Justice said. “I want everyone to know that I am very, very seriously considering that, at the beginning of next week. We may very well have to go to mandatory masks in buildings, you know, other than your homes.”

For weeks, Justice has urged residents to wear masks but has been reluctant to make them mandatory. At times, he has called the issue “divisive,” although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that masks be worn in public to prevent the spread of the virus.

“This recommendation is based on what we know about the role respiratory droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, paired with emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows cloth face coverings reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth,” according to the CDC’s website.

While mask-wearing has become a partisan debate in recent months, prominent national Republicans such as Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have both recently become vocal on the issue by asking Americans to wear masks in public.

Earlier this week, West Virginia Republican Party chairwoman Melody Potter wrote on Facebook that she wants people to be “considerate” of her decision not to wear a mask.

Potter, who cited West Virginia state code that makes masks illegal — with a few exceptions, including emergencies — also quoted one of America’s Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry, and wrote, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Asked to respond to the leader of his party, Justice said he thinks highly of Potter, but he pushed back on the idea of not wearing masks.

“I would ask her — if we go through a mandatory masking and everything to go in our buildings and everything if we cannot social distance — I would ask Melody not to go into buildings,” Justice said.

Justice went on to say that he and his advisers will review testing data over the weekend. He added that the decision on whether to mandate masks would not be influenced by politics.

“We’re going to gather a whole bunch more information — and we’re gonna make the best decision we can make — but I’m going to make the decision. That is the best decision Jim Justice can make,” Justice said. “Not the decision that is the best political decision. Not a decision that is a party decision. It is going to be the decision as to what I think is the very best for all West Virginians.”

At least a dozen states have mandated the use of masks in public spaces in hopes of quelling the spread of the virus. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, issued an order on the matter Wednesday.

The change of tone comes as West Virginia has seen an uptick in cases of the coronavirus in recent weeks. On Thursday, state health officials reported the highest number of new cases since May 23.

Thirty-eight states are reporting an increase in the number of cases in the past 14 days, according to a data analysis by The New York Times. The U.S. reported more than 50,000 total new cases Wednesday, surpassing records that had been set over the past few days.

As of Thursday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported 93 deaths from COVID-19. The agency reported more than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus.

Shepherdstown Town Council Urges Governor To Require Face Masks In W.Va.

A month after passing a resolution strongly encouraging Shepherdstown businesses to require face masks inside their establishments, the Shepherdstown Town Council is formally calling on Gov. Jim Justice to mandate face masks in public spaces across West Virginia.

The Shepherdstown Town Council on Tuesday passed the resolution requesting Justice make wearing masks a requirement.

Shepherdstown Mayor Jim Auxer said during the meeting, held via the video conferencing app Zoom, that masks help limit the spread of the coronavirus, according to health officials. And he pointed to the governor’s frequent call for citizens to wear masks when out in public.

“It is divisive but maybe if [Justice] hears from constituents, about how we feel about that, maybe it’ll help him make a decision,” Auxer said. “If he really feels it’s important, then we’re helping him do that.”

Of the council members present on the Zoom call, only one member, Mark Everhart, spoke against the resolution, saying requiring masks goes too far.

While Justice has urged West Virginians to wear masks in public, he has not made it mandatory, and insists if he did so, it would cause division and tread on people’s freedoms.

In late May, the Shepherdstown Town Council passed a resolution that “strongly encourages” businesses in town to require face masks of their customers. The resolution was also accompanied by a letter from the Shepherdstown Police Department saying businesses have the option to get police involved if someone refuses to wear a mask and enters a business anyway. The person could be subject to a trespassing charge.

Some states in the country have mandated wearing masks in public places, such as Maryland, California, and some cities in Arizona, but largely, it is only a recommendation in the United States.

The Eastern Panhandle has consistently seen high numbers of positive coronavirus cases. Berkeley County has held the highest number of cases in the state for several weeks.

To-date, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has confirmed 440 positive cases of coronavirus in Berkeley County and 224 positive cases in Jefferson County.

As of Tuesday evening, DHHR has confirmed 2,905 total positive cases statewide and 93 deaths.

'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Mask, No Service' – Shepherdstown Takes Strides To Encourage Face Masks

Updated on July 2, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.

Scientific evidence is mounting that wearing a mask is an effective way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But in many states, including West Virginia, officials have been reluctant to mandate mask wearing in public.

In the Eastern Panhandle, one town has passed a resolution that “strongly encourages” mask wearing and gives businesses the option to get local police involved if customers refuse to wear one inside their establishments.

At many businesses in Shepherdstown, there are bright orange posters in windows that read “PROTECT: Masks Required Here,” including a popular shop called the German Street Coffee and Candlery.

“We were issued masks by the town, which I thought was awesome, so when people come without their masks, we can offer them one,” said German Street Coffee and Candlery employee Alexandra Casserley.

Casserley and her co-workers say they were glad to hear about the resolution passed by the Shepherdstown Town Council in late May that strongly encourages mask wearing. She said while they haven’t had any issues with customers refusing to wear a mask, she feels safer knowing they can require customers to wear them and that if it was necessary, the police could get involved.

“It just gives us a bit of backup if an individual is difficult,” she said. “I wouldn’t necessarily want to cause a huge amount of trouble, but I would like them to be escorted from the premises if they will not cooperate and are aggressively coming in to make a point.”

Shepherdstown Mayor Jim Auxer said the council can’t require anyone to wear a mask, unless the governor makes wearing one indoors mandatory. But he maintains that under state statute, what they’re doing is perfectly legal to protect Shepherdstown residents, visitors and to empower the town’s businesses.

He said the decision to pass the resolution was based on guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Jefferson County Health Department.

Auxer also points to the region’s increase in coronavirus cases and the fact that Shepherdstown is a tourist town that’s close to the Washington, D.C., metro region.

Jefferson County has seen more than 200 positive cases of coronavirus. Its neighbor, Berkeley County, has held the highest number of positive coronavirus cases in the state for weeks with more than 400 positive cases.

These cases, according to officials, are mostly attributed to community spread and the region’s close proximity to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD and Virginia. Recently, several West Virginians have traveled to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, and Gov. Jim Justice has cautioned vacationers to practice social distancing, good hand hygiene and wear masks if they feel they must travel.

Both Jefferson and Berkeley Counties remain on high alert for the virus.

“Jefferson and Berkeley initially were considered hotspots,” Auxer said. “And the Jefferson County Health Department is adamant in their suggestion that masks are important.”

According to the town resolution, a business owner is “strongly encouraged” to require or at least encourage the wearing of masks within their establishments. As private entities, they have the right to set their own policies, so requiring a patron to wear a mask to enter is a choice a business can already make.

But along with that resolution, the Shepherdstown Police Department also provided a letter to Shepherdstown businesses that says police can get involved if someone refuses to wear a mask and enters a business anyway. The person could be subject to a trespassing charge if they insist on coming inside after being asked to wear a mask and still refuse to do so.

“It’s no different than no shirt, no shoes, no service; no shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service,” Auxer said.

Other establishments in Shepherdstown are also glad to have the resolution, though it’s not as easy to enforce everywhere, including places like a restaurant, where patrons must remove their mask to eat and drink.

Tabitha Dolan, general manager of the Blue Moon Café, said she encourages customers to wear masks up until their food arrives, and when asked to wear one, most people comply. She doesn’t anticipate needing to reach out to the police to enforce mask-wearing inside of her restaurant.

“I really don’t think it’s going to come to that here,” Dolan said. “Most of the customers are longtime customers, and we don’t really usually have any ruckus here. I mean, that’s the bottom line. So, I don’t think that we’ll have to worry about it. And I hope that we don’t.”

Dolan admits she doesn’t always wear a mask in public herself, because she has a lung disorder and said she has difficulty breathing with one on. But she requires her staff to wear a mask while working. They also have a sign in their window asking visitors to wear one.

“I have my opinions about it both ways, but I also want my staff to feel comfortable,” she said. “So, I am kind of glad that they did pass [the resolution]. But on the other side of that, you know, I have to think about people like me as well.”

In some communities in the United States, where masks have been mandated in public spaces, there has been some pushback. But according to Shepherdstown Mayor Auxer, that hasn’t been the case locally.

Community reaction on one Facebook post about Shepherdstown’s resolution has about 90 comments – mostly negative – saying the move will hurt the town’s businesses and local economy.

But responses on the Shepherdstown Visitors Center’s Facebook page were mostly supportive with many people showing support with “Like” and “Love” reaction emojis.

At the state level, Justice continues to urge West Virginians to wear masks when in public spaces, but has so far, decided against issuing a statewide requirement that people wear masks indoors, which other states have done.

“First of all, it’s almost impossible to enforce,” Justice https://youtu.be/CW5D0-7PD_8?t=3734″>said in a June 24 virtual press briefing. “And the second part of it is just this: it will divide us. They’ll be people that think now we’ve gone too far and we’re really treading on their freedoms … If we can do it on a voluntary basis where we’re all pulling the rope together, we’ll be a lot better off.”

Casserley at the German Street Coffee and Candlery said she thinks the state should consider passing a statewide mandate to require the wearing of masks in public.

“I know there’s this argument, ‘but my freedom, my freedom,’ but I think with freedom comes responsibility. And we are all responsible for other people’s health,” she said. “So, I think by wearing a mask, you are showing respect for others, not necessarily thinking just of yourself.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to the Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington and Wheeling city clerk’s to see if some of the state’s larger cities had done anything like Shepherdstown, but at this time, they have not made similar moves.

Last week, however, the Harpers Ferry Town Council passed a resolution almost identical to Shepherdstown’s. Harpers Ferry’s resolution is also accompained by a letter from the Harpers Ferry Police Department telling businesses they have the option to call local police if patrons refuse to wear a mask and refuse to leave the establishment.

To-date, West Virginia has seen more than 3,000 positive cases of the virus with more than 90 deaths, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

High School Graduations — A Balancing Act Between Tradition And Pandemic

High schools throughout the United States and in West Virginia have had to reimagine graduation for the Class of 2020. Many have already had drive-through, or drive by, graduations, some have done virtual ones, and others hold out hope to also have some sort of traditional ceremony later this summer.

For about 18,000 high school seniors in West Virginia, the final semester of their student career was turned upside down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“You got those last couple months taken away from you. We didn’t realize we were never going back,” said Oak Hill High School senior Marcayla King. “We didn’t think that we weren’t ever going to see each other again, or at least until graduation … We couldn’t use those last couple months to spend time and make memories and stuff.”

When the governor closed schools for good for the rest of the semester, it quickly became clear: No prom or big senior parties. But what about graduation?

Schools across the state are trying to get creative: Some schools asked students and their family members to drive up to a designated location to receive a diploma in cap and gown and snap a picture or two.

Ripley High School in Jackson County held a parade for its 2020 graduates, announcing their names and future plans on a loudspeaker on the main drag Downtown.

And King’s high school, like some others in West Virginia, had a drive-through graduation. School officials personally delivered all diplomas to everyone’s house. And the school plans to have a traditional graduation ceremony outside later this summer.

“They’re going to have us seated six feet apart, and they’re going to broadcast it live and stuff, too, so like, parents can hear it and see it,” King said.

At the end of March, the West Virginia Department of Education created a Graduation Task Force to survey all 55 county school boards and figure out what a 2020 graduation in a pandemic could look like.

“Our goal with the task force was to really pay attention to what people wanted to do with their senior graduations,” said Jan Barth, assistant superintendent of schools, division of teaching and learning. “And we were trying to figure out ways to make sure that they had a face to face graduation if the pandemic would allow for that.”

Barth, who’s also a member of the task force, said the consensus from the beginning was to hope and plan for something traditional later in the summer. And she said the majority of high schools in West Virginia are doing that.

“I think a lot of people got good ideas about how to do it as traditionally as they possibly can, within the guidelines of the CDC requirements and the governor’s guidelines,” she said.

Those guidelines include social distancing, wearing masks and gloves, and having hand sanitizer available.

But these guidelines aren’t mandatory, and Barth said how the graduations were shaped was ultimately decided on by the local county school boards and school districts.

A staff member reaches into a vehicle to deliver a diploma at Martinsburg High School’s drive-through graduation on May 26, 2020. The majority of faculty and staff did not wear protective equipment to combat the coronavirus.

During some of the recent drive-through graduations, not every school followed these guidelines to the letter.

Take Martinsburg High School in Berkeley County.

During its drive-through graduation, many students teared up or cheered as they got out of their vehicles. Family members looked on from their cars taking photos and honking horns. Teachers stood together up the street waving the school colors and hitting cowbells.

“We wanted to celebrate the students on the day they would have graduated,” said Principal Trent Sherman.

But something was missing from almost all of the staff members — protective gear to fight the coronavirus — including Principal Sherman, who shook hands with nearly every student while not wearing gloves or a mask.

Teachers stand together up the street to cheer students as they drive by during Martinsburg High School’s drive-through graduation on May 26, 2020.

Before the event, Sherman said he didn’t have any health concerns for the evening, because the area was open and outside.

“We got open air, “ he said, “it’s nice out here; a little bit warm, but I think it will be good.”

And Martinsburg High School wasn’t alone in these lax practices.

Jan Barth said she was aware that some schools weren’t following guidelines strictly. She said her team provided all manner of guidelines for schools to follow, but at the end of the day — they’re only guidelines.

“This is not state code. It’s not state policy. It’s a local school district decision and they have all the information they need,” she said. “They had the social guidance information that they needed from the governor’s office.”

Some staff members at Martinsburg High School did wear face coverings during the drive-through graduation on May 26, 2020.

Since early May, Gov. Jim Justice has been slowly reopening West Virginia’s economy. And while the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources says we remain below the case rate that would require the state to start closing again, there are still new cases of COVID-19 being discovered every day across the state.

In Berkeley County, where Martinsburg High is located, coronavirus testing has recently become more available to the public, and the number of positive cases has grown from roughly 25 per week to between 40 and 50 new cases each week. That’s according to Dr. Terrence Reidy, health officer for the Berkeley-Morgan County Health Department and the Jefferson County Health Department.

Berkeley County has also seen the highest number of positive coronavirus cases in the state.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” said Dr. Reidy over Skype. “That either the masks aren’t important, or I don’t have to worry about it, or that this is not a real virus, and it’s not really deadly. And that’s just not true.”

Reidy cautioned that as things continue to reopen, the way we interact with one another must change to limit the spread of the virus.

Reidy acknowledges that social change is hard, but he said if people don’t make the effort to take precautions, things will only get worse — especially in the Eastern Panhandle.

“To me, this is still the first wave coming in from Baltimore and Washington,” he said. “It’s not so much the wave, as the tide coming in. We know that every week or so they’re going to be more and more cases. And it may change a little bit, but with time it’s going to increase.”

As some high schools in West Virginia begin moving forward with traditional graduations, state officials are urging staff and students to be conscientious of others, to follow social distancing guidelines, and to wear a mask when inside a public space or when in close proximity to others.