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New Nursing Home Order Takes Effect Tuesday, As State Tracks 31 Related Outbreaks

An executive order from West Virginia’s governor will take effect Tuesday morning, adding some flexibility for nursing home visitations as the state continues monitoring more than 30 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

West Virginians will follow the same color-coded map the state rolled out for schools on Aug. 14, to determine whether it’s safe or not for them to visit a nursing home, Gov. Jim Justice said on Monday.

His new order rescinds an Aug. 12 order, which temporarily barred people from visiting residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

The color-coded map is assembled based on the active COVID-19 cases per population and it’s designed to monitor the severity of community spread. The Department of Health and Human Resources has modified the map twice since its introduction almost two weeks ago.

Counties in green and yellow will allow in-person visits to long-term care facilities by appointment only, with certain restrictions on age and location, according to the DHHR’s reopening plan from Aug. 20.

Counties in orange and red will only allow visits for compassionate care.

The color-coded system additionally creates restrictions to communal dining, group activities and rules for nonessential personnel. In all counties, staff are responsible for screening residents daily.

“I urge everyone to contact your local nursing home and arrange for those visits during those pandemics,” DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill Crouch said Monday.

Logan was the only red county Monday afternoon, and Monroe was the only county in orange. The state has reported active outbreaks at nursing homes in both communities, in addition to Grant, Kanawha, Mercer, Raleigh and Taylor counties.

CEO Marty Wright for the West Virginia Health Care Association, a trade group representing most of West Virginia’s long-term care facilities, said Monday that greater community spread and longer lags in testing results are what’s driving the increase in nursing home outbreaks.

“What we’ve seen is that asymptomatic spread has presented a challenge across the board,” Wright said. “It gets into a facility and no one knows it.”

For the Springfield Center in Monroe County, where CEO Larry Pack said Monday roughly 30 out of 50 patients have tested positive since last week, the outbreak began with one employee testing positive.

“If we have one positive employee, or one positive patient, we test every employee and every patient in the center,” said Pack, who runs 17 West Virginia nursing homes through Stonerise Healthcare.

About 25 employees at Springfield also have tested positive since last week. Pack said all staff and patients in Monroe County will be tested weekly until everyone tests negative.

Weekly testing is the protocol for all West Virginia nursing homes experiencing an outbreak. However, the process has become more difficult as the need for testing resources grows in schools, correctional centers and other places, according to Wright.

Nationally, there’s a push to offer more antigen testing in long-term care facilities just because the tests are easier to process. Unfortunately, Wright said, there’s still debate as to whether antigen results are as accurate as the more common PCR testing.

“There is the concern, whether or not it has a significant enough sensitivity to allow for it to be used,” Wright said.

So far, the West Virginia Health Care Association reports two West Virginia facilities have received equipment for antigen testing.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Justice Again Tweaks School Reopening Metrics, Color-Coded Map Now Covers Nursing Homes

Gov. Jim Justice has once again revised a set of metrics that will guide school reopenings and, now, some operations at nursing homes. That change comes as West Virginia hits high marks in the number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

In a virtual news briefing Friday, Justice said counties with populations under 16,000 will be evaluated on a 14-day rolling average, while those with more than 16,000 will still be evaluated on a 7-day rolling average.

Those variables will help influence metrics on a color-coded map that will guide school reopenings.

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Sec. Bill Crouch said the same map will now help decide whether nursing homes can allow visitations. Justice issued an executive order earlier this month that banned visitations at those facilities but said he would work to find a system to allow visitations where it is safe to do so.

“This map will be used for different purposes now, rather than just the school alert system,” Crouch said. “We had been working previously on the alert system for nursing homes that would allow them a way to gauge community spread in their counties and their communities to guide them with regard to visitations.”

Crouch said the Department of Education will post next week a separate map for school athletic and extracurricular activities. Schools are slated to reopen for in-person and virtual learning on Sept. 8.

Justice also announced that school children in grades three and above will now be required to wear a mask in certain settings if their county is in the green, yellow and orange levels. A red level means that a county school system will operate in a fully virtual setting.

According to data from the DHHR, the state hit record numbers Friday in key metrics that track the virus’s impact. The number of patients hospitalized is now 146 and the number of those in ICU is at 54. While not a record, the number of patients on ventilators stands at 24 — one of the highest numbers recorded during the pandemic.

Despite those record numbers, Justice said the state’s hospitals remain ready to handle more cases should the need present itself.

“As we move up in hospitalizations, they look like they’re alarming. But capacity of hospitalizations is much, much, much, much greater,” Justice. “So, we’re in great shape.”

As of Friday morning, the DHHR reported 160 deaths from COVID-19 and 9,066 total cases of the coronavirus. State health officials are currently reporting 1,756 active cases.

Justice Issues Restrictions On Nursing Home Visitations, Extends Mon County Bar Closures

With recent deaths from the coronavirus in West Virginia concentrated within the state’s elderly population, Gov. Jim Justice says he is once again restricting visitations at nursing homes.

At a virtual news briefing Wednesday, Justice announced 12 additional coronavirus-related deaths since Monday. He also noted outbreaks in at least 28 nursing homes across the state.

As of Wednesday morning, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 153 deaths from COVID-19 and 8,008 total cases of the coronavirus. Many of those deaths come from the state’s elderly population and residents at nursing homes.

“We have got to — in some way — try with all in us to calm this down,” Justice said.

Nursing homes were among the first places hard hit by the coronavirus in West Virginia. Justice mandated testing of all residents and staff and barred outside visitors. But in mid-June, as part of the state’s reopening plan, visitations resumed.

As of Wednesday night at midnight, those visitations will again be put on hold.

However, Justice said his administration will develop a “metric” that would allow some nursing homes to open back up to visitors if conditions allow. He said more information should be available in the coming days.

The governor also again extended the closure of bars in Monongalia County. That extension — the third since Justice closed bars in the county in mid-July — will last seven days.

Justice said that came in part from recommendations from officials at West Virginia University, where classes are set to resume later this month.

“We’re going to keep the bars closed for seven more days and see where we stand. We’re going to evaluate the protocol,” Justice said.

However, newly reported cases in Monongalia County have dropped significantly over the past two weeks. According to a data analysis from The New York Times, the county has recorded 21 new cases in the past week. In mid-July, the county was reporting more than 100 new cases a week.

“We want these businesses to be open,” Justice said. “We want them to be open so badly it’s unbelievable — because I want us back to normalcy as quickly as we possibly can in every way we can possibly do it.”

Justice said Monongalia County officials offered indifference to the closures in a phone call with a member of his administration. But county commissioners say they never asked for bars to be closed and disputed Justice’s representation of their communications with him.

Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said he was “disappointed” and “shocked” by the governor’s comments Wednesday.

Bloom said that he and other county commissioners told the governor’s advisor Bray Cary Wednesday morning that they wanted the bars to remain open “with strict metrics.”

“We are disturbed that the governor made several misleading comments today,” Bloom told West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Justice’s order extending bar closures would run through Thursday, Aug. 20.

WVU Medicine Lifts Zero-Visitation Policy At Eastern Panhandle Hospitals

WVU Medicine’s two Eastern Panhandle hospitals have lifted the zero-visitation policy put in place to combat the coronavirus.

Hospital inpatients and emergency department patients at Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center are now permitted to see visitors.

WVU Medicine East announced the policy shift this week.

Visitors will be allowed between noon and 7:00 p.m. at both Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers. They must be screened upon arrival, wear a mask and remain in a patients’ room for the duration of the visit. Patients are also only allowed one adult visitor per day.

Visitors are still not permitted on the Behavioral Health Unit.

“Our ambulatory surgery, outpatient services, physician clinics and urgent care centers will continue to discourage visitors with some exceptions,” said Samantha Richards, WVU Medicine East interim president and CEO, in a press release. “These visitation changes were made after a thorough review of the current COVID-19 pandemic in our area, and our continued response efforts keeping staff, patients and their families at the forefront of our considerations.”

More than a month ago, other hospitals in West Virginia began easing their own restrictions, such as Mon Health System and Charleston Area Medical Center Health System.

At that time, the Eastern Panhandle region, specifically Berkeley County, was seeing the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in the state.

Recently, Monongalia County has taken that lead with more than 800 coronavirus cases to-date, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Meanwhile, other hospitals in West Virginia, including Boone Memorial in Madison, have reinstated a no visitor policy.

Similarly, some nursing homes in West Virginia have also had to reinstate visitor restrictions after outbreaks of COVID-19. Most recently, Princeton Health Care Center in Mercer County, currently has a confirmed total of at least 30 COVID-19 cases, according to Gov. Jim Justice’s office.

Visitation restrictions at nursing homes were lifted on June 17 in West Virginia, but only if a facility has had no cases of COVID-19 for the 14 consecutive day period following that date.

Nursing Homes To Reopen To Visitors Starting June 17

Nursing homes, which have been closed to guests since mid-March because of the coronavirus, will soon be reopening to visitors.

In his daily virtual press briefing, Gov. Jim Justice said nursing home visitation will be phased in starting Wednesday, June 17. In order to reopen to visitors, nursing homes must have had no positive cases in the past 14 days and must pass a certification by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Before coming, visitors must make an appointment with the facility to see their loved one to ensure social distancing. Beyond that, specific rules about visiting will be determined on a facility-by-facility basis.

Restricting nursing homes visitation was one of the first executive closures Justice made because of the pandemic. Nursing home residents are at high risk for contracting the disease as many are elderly, have preexisting conditions, and are living in close contact with other people.

Almost 2,200 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 85 have died in West Virginia.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.

Justice Outlines Testing Efforts At W.Va. Nursing Homes, Says Roadmap to Reopening Will Be 'Fluid'

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday widespread testing of the coronavirus at nursing homes has so far yielded encouraging results. However, he…

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday widespread testing of the coronavirus at nursing homes has so far yielded encouraging results. However, he and other officials cautioned that effort is early on, with just under one-third of the state’s facilities fully tested, and broader testing is planned as the state considers how to reopen with the pandemic lingering.

The governor ordered last week that all nursing home residents and staff across the state be tested for the coronavirus. He said so far only one new confirmed case of the coronavirus has been found at those types of facilities.

Justice said the case was discovered at a veteran’s nursing home in Barboursville.

The widespread testing followed outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Monongalia, Wayne and Jackson counties.

“Those breakouts in nursing homes have been very, very alarming and so that’s why we went on this — basically — crusade to test everybody,” Justice said.

But Justice said that widespread testing is not yet complete and the situation could change as nearly 28,000 residents and staff will be tested as part of the effort.

“What worried me was we would find that we have a significant problem in lots and lots of places and the jury’s still out,” he said.

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch says the state has initiated testing in 38 long-term facilities, with 11 of them reporting they have completed testing. Crouch reported nearly 1,400 negative tests between residents and staff as of Tuesday.

“Thus far we’re showing good results, you’ll notice that the number and the percentage of individuals tested for West Virginia is growing rapidly as a result of this,” Crouch said.

Justice noted that he’s seen two distinct viewpoints become clear as state’s grapple with the virus while they consider reigniting stalled economies. He compared protests in state’s calling for reopenings with other calls to postpone those efforts until the fall.

“There could probably be better thought in both situations,” Justice said. “Now the one thing I’ve tried with all in me to do is guide us through a pathway to keep as many of us from getting sick, and as many people from dying as I possibly could.”

State coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh said Wednesday as testing ramps up in the state, other vulnerable and hard-hit populations such as inmates, African Americans and the elderly will be a priority. He said the state plans to have a “very broad” testing plan.

“As we get back reopening as we’re doing now under the governor’s direction — and his decisions which I think are always with the best intentions for the well-being and the health of our population — what we’ve realized from what other countries have done this is the fact that we can’t, just by seeing people’s symptoms know who can spread this virus and who can’t,” Marsh said.

Justice has not yet announced a plan for reopening the state beyond saying hospitals will soon return to full operations. On Monday, he announced an executive order that allows hospitals to apply beginning April 27 to resume elective medical surgeries and procedures.

“In the very near days you will get more and more and more of a guideline — a roadmap to where we’re going,” Justice said. “But just be prepared [that] the roadmap has got to be fluid and have the ability to pivot all the time because, you know, this situation can jump up and bite us, Justice said.

According to state officials, 26,961 test results have been turned over to laboratories. As of the DHHR’s Wednesday evening update, 963 cases have been confirmed in the state.

A large majority of West Virginia’s 29 reported deaths have been elderly residents with underlying health conditions.