How Ohio Valley States Are Reopening Their Economies

This story was updated on May 11, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the Ohio Valley Region. But stay at home orders and social distancing restrictions reduced the number of cases modelers projected without them.

Now there is pressure to ease the restrictions and open states’ economies back up as the businesses that were closed struggle to find relief and record numbers of people apply for unemployment.

Here is a brief rundown of how West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky plan to reopen businesses.

West Virginia

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced on April 27 that the state would begin reopening businesses before the federal government and outside organizations recommended.

The voluntary openings in the “West Virginia Strong – The Comeback” plan are scheduled to take place in waves over three to six weeks, depending on outbreaks and hospitalizations spikes as social distancing restrictions relax.

Week 1 (April 30)

-Hospitals across the state were able to resume elective medical procedures, “provided that they have a plan in place to safely phase-in procedures based on clinical judgement while following all CDC guidelines.” They must also have enough personal protective equipment and a plan to respond if there is a surge of COVID-19 patients in the future. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Office of Health Facility Licensure & Certification was tasked with approving each application.

-Outpatient health care operations could resume if their boards or associations approved.

-Testing of daycare staff began across the state.

Week 2 (May 4)

-The state’s “Stay at Home” was replaced with a “Safer at Home” order on May 4.

-Any small business with fewer than 10 employees was able to resume operations.

-All businesses providing professional services, such as hair salons, nail salons, barbershops and pet grooming were permitted to reopen. But customers are required to make appointments for these businesses and must wait in their vehicles until their appointment.

-Outdoor dining at restaurants is permitted under strict physical distancing restrictions.

-Churches and funeral homes that chose to stop in-person services that wish to resume are encouraged to take extra precautions such as limiting seating to every other pew, maintaining physical distancing and wearing face covering restrictions.

All businesses included in the Week 2 phase of reopenings are required to operate with physical distancing measures in effect. Businesses are also required to implement efforts to increase sanitation and the use of face coverings.

Week 3 (May 11)

-Wellness centers operated by or with West Virginia Licensed Health Care providers, dental offices (as approved by the West Virginia Board of Dentistry) and drive-in theaters will open up May 11.

Week 4 (May 21)

-Indoor dining at restaurants can resume at 50 percent capacity. (Restaurants must operate under new guidance. Bar areas are to remain closed.)

-Large and specialty retail stores can reopen.

-State park campgrounds are open to in-state residents only. (Cabins and lodges reopen to in-state residents Tuesday May 26)

-Outdoor recreation rentals, including kayaks, bicycles, ATVs and similar equipment, can continue.

-Outdoor motorsport and powersport racing can resume with no spectators.

Weeks 5-6

-Remaining business including office and government buildings, gyms, fitness centers, recreation centers, hotels, casinos, spas and massage parlors and other businesses will be notified one week before they are allowed to reopen.

-There is no timetable for the reopening of nursing home visitation, entertainment venues and gatherings of more than 25 people.

Ohio

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine also announced his “Responsible Restart Ohio plan to reopen businesses in the state on April 27.

He said the plan was a “balancing act” between restarting the economy and keeping people safe, outlining measures to increase testing and contact tracing.

DeWine organized the plan by when certain sectors would reopen. Some business owners continue to wait on the governor’s word.

Office of Gov. Mike DeWine

May 1

-The state’s “Stay at Home” order was replaced with a “Stay Safe Ohio” order scheduled to run through May 29. The order relaxed some restrictions, but still included social distancing and sanitation practices at businesses and banning social gatherings of 10 or more people.

-DeWine signed an order allowing hospital procedures to resume as long they don’t require an overnight stay in the hospital. There are exceptions, such as cases involving cancer or extreme pain.The order also applied to dentistry and veterinary offices.

May 2

-Retailers could open offering curbside pickup only.

May 4

-All construction, manufacturing and distribution companies could reopen.

-”General office environments” could reopen.

May 12

-Retailers can open in-store operations.

All companies that reopen were told they have to follow five rules:

-Wear face masks (for most employees, not customers)

-Assess employee health daily health, such as by checking temperatures

-Maintain good hygiene

-Clean and sanitize surfaces frequently

-Limit capacity to 50 percent of fire code requirement to maintain social distancing

On May 7, DeWine announced another round of openings.

May 15

-Barbershops, salons, day spas and similar personal services can reopen under new guidelines. These include waiting for appointments outside, only allowing the person holding the appointment inside (with some exceptions for children) and mask wearing for workers

-Outdoor dining and restaurant and bars can resume. Restaurants and bars must operate under guidelines developed by working groups established by DeWine. These include barriers between seating areas, no open congregate areas, employees required to wear masks (with exceptions for cooks and certain other employees).

May 21

–Indoor dining at restaurants and bars can resume under new guidelines

DeWine’s working groups will establish timelines for remaining businesses, including entertainment venues, to reopen.

Kentucky

Kentucky is taking a slower approach to reopening that Ohio and West Virginia.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced his “Healthy at Work” plan would include different phases for the health care industry and non-health care industries.

April 27

-”Non-emergent/non-urgent” outpatient healthcare services were permitted to resume. This includes physical therapy, chiropractic services, dentistry, oral surgery and anesthesia. Non-emergent/non-urgent surgical and invasive procedures were not included in this phase.

May 6

–Outpatient/ambulatory surgery and invasive procedures can resume. But all patients must have COVID-19 pre-procedure testing and each facility must maintain a 14-day supply of all necessary PPE. Acute care hospitals must maintain at least 30 percent bed capacity, per facility surge plan, in both ICU and total beds for COVID-19 patients.

May 11

-Manufacturing and construction businesses may reopen.

-Vehicle or vessel dealerships can reopen

-Half of office-based businesses may reopen.

-Horse racing, with no fans, may resume.

-Dog grooming and board can continue.

May 13

–Non-emergent/non-urgent inpatient surgery and procedures may resume at 50% of pre-COVID-19 shutdown volume. The same guidelines with outpatient/ambulatory surgery and invasive procedures will apply.

May 20

–Retail businesses can resume in-store shopping.

-Houses of Worship can hold in-person services with social distancing guidelines.

May 22

-Restaurants will be able to open at one-third capacity with some social distancing requirements.

May 25

-Kentuckians will be allowed to gather in groups of 10 or fewer.

-Barbers, salons, cosmetology businesses and similar services may resume.

May 27

–Non-emergent/non-urgent inpatient surgery and procedures may resume at volume determined by each facility.

June 1

-Movie theaters and gyms will be able to open.

June 11

-Campgrounds will be allowed to open.

June 15

-Childcare facilities and youth sports can begin operation.

July 1

-Bars will be allowed to open and groups of 50 can meet.

West Virginia Eases Reopening Plan To Observe Caseload

West Virginia has scaled back its plan to lift coronavirus restrictions to gauge how current reopenings will affect the state’s caseload, officials said Tuesday.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice has announced that the third week of his plan will begin next Monday with the opening of physical therapy centers and drive-in movie theaters. His original strategy sought to have offices, gyms, restaurants and other businesses start resuming operations in the third and following weeks.

“This week we have reduced the aggressiveness of some of the reopenings. We’re going to let things kind of play out for a week or so,” Clay Marsh, a West Virginia University official leading the state’s virus response, told reporters.

Justice has so far let hospitals resume elective procedures and allowed the reopening of small businesses, outdoor dining restaurants and barber shops. The physical therapy centers and drive-in theaters can open Monday.

The governor has loosened a key testing benchmark to accommodate his reopening strategy without explanation. His plan hinges on having the state remain under a 3% positive test rate for three days, reversing a previous goal of having new cases decline for two consecutive weeks. Marsh previously endorsed the two-week criteria but now says the state has enough downward trend lines to warrant lifting restrictions.

The Justice administration has not given clear benchmarks on what kinds of testing capacity and safety equipment inventory it wants to have as part of the reopening strategy.

At least 50 people have died and about 1,200 people have tested positive for the virus, state health officials said.

Many W.Va. Nonessential Businesses Can Reopen, Why Are Some Still Closed?

Across the U.S., some states, including West Virginia, are beginning to loosen restrictions meant to reduce the spread of coronavirus, allowing for some non-essential businesses to reopen.

On Monday, May 4, West Virginia entered the second week of Gov. Jim Justice’s six-week reopening plan, “The Comeback.” During week two, businesses with fewer than 10 employees, salons and barber shops, dog grooming services, and outdoor dining restaurants are allowed to reopen. Churches and other places of worship are allowed to conduct funerals and other services with limited gathering sizes.

The coronavirus has taken a large toll on the economy, especially businesses. While some West Virginia establishments are eager to reopen, others are still wary, fearing the resurgence of a second wave of COVID-19 infections in the state. The hard choices West Virginia business owners are now facing will soon be shared by many in neighboring states, which are also slowly reopening. In Ohio, retail shops will be able to partially reopen on May 12. Beginning on May 20, Kentucky’s retailers will as well.

Projections for daily coronavirus cases and deaths have increased since states across the country have announced a variety of reopening plans. According to internal documents obtained by the New York Times, the Trump administration has increased its projected daily death toll by 70 percent, reflecting 3,000 daily deaths in the country beginning June 1. White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere has denied the report.

For business owner Lori Whited in Boone County, W.Va., those increased projections are enough to keep her doors closed, by choice. Whited owns The Boone Magnolia Boutique, a store that features clothes, homegoods and accessories made by regional artisans.

“We’ve really taken a loss; some of my artisans cannot sell online or on a webpage,” she said. “But, I do not want to risk exposing us to a lot of the people that would come in. A lot of our customers work in the health field, and they’re traveling from all over the state, in the tri-state area to come and see the store.”

The Boone Magnolia Boutique prepares orders to be shipped while the storefront is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whited said she does not expect to open before July, adding that she would like to see if COVID-19 cases spike in the region after the six-week reopening plan in the state.

“I was prepared, you know, to be closed for at least three months,” she said.

In Charleston, homegoods and apparel boutique Kin Ship Goods is also electing to keep its storefront shuttered, despite the economic toll the closure is taking.

The shop has furloughed its employees and owners Dan Davis and Hillary Harrison are not taking a salary. Harrison said she does not feel there is enough guidance from public health officials to protect her employees or customers if the store were to reopen.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s the protocols in place in the country yet,” she said. “There’s not testing or contact tracing in place, we would need to see the numbers here remain low and not increase once things start reopening.”

Wheeling-based restaurant Later Alligator is taking a similar approach. Despite being able to increase service to include outdoor seating, the eatery will remain carryout and delivery only for the time being.

“I’m not prepared to put our staff in more harm’s way in the name of dollars,” said spokesperson Mitchell Haddad.

Eager To Reopen

However, not all businesses are prepared to remain closed voluntarily.

In Mercer County, the Heart Strings Gift Shop is hoping to open as soon as Wednesday, May 6, said co-owner Tammy Crews. The business is family-owned, but located inside the Princeton Community Hospital, so reopening is a more extensive process.

“We can’t just reopen our doors automatically because two-thirds of our business is coming from outside the hospital, not just from hospital employees,” Crews said. “We bring a lot of traffic to the hospital, which is not a bad thing under normal circumstances, but at this time, we’re trying to make arrangements to be able to service those people in other ways.”

But, Crews said even with curbside delivery and online orders, her business has taken a significant financial hit that is not sustainable. As soon as the hospital approves the reopening of the gift shop, Crews said she plans to open and practice social distancing guidelines with customers.

For Chad Stradwick, owner of Stradwick’s Fade Cave, reopening his barber shop in Wheeling is less a matter of choice, and more a matter of survival.

“Everyone is telling us that we need to social distance, however I need to work because I have not had income since March 18. I qualified for absolutely no financial help at all,“ Stradwick said.

Although Stradwick is reopening, he said he is taking certain precautions including only allowing one customer in his shop at a time and requiring his customers to wear masks.

He added that his major fear in reopening is the health of his family.

Stradwick said he would feel guilty if he got his immunocompromised wife and son sick, but felt that financially he had no choice but to return to work.

“Family safety is the most important thing. But my family has to eat, you know?” he said. “Do I want them to be safe, or I want them to eat? Like why should I have to choose that?”

This story was reported in part of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Southern Coalfields Reporting Project which is supported by a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area Authority.

Gov. Justice Clarifies Reopening Dates, State Officials Address Contact Tracing Needs

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice clarified some aspects of his plan to reopen the state and addressed concerns over what capabilities the state might have to trace a second wave of the coronavirus should it reappear. Justice said that the state will need to “find a way to live with the virus” as the economy reopens.

In a Tuesday virtual briefing, Justice said Week One of his reopening plan — which allows professional medical boards to reopen outpatient health care — is already underway. He also said Week Two would begin early next week.

“[Week Two] will commence next Monday, a week from yesterday, provided we have three days in this week — which are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday — that get us under three percent,” Justice said.

Under Justice’s plan, the state needs to maintain a cumulative COVID-19 positive test rate under three percent for three consecutive days. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ Tuesday morning update, the state has confirmed 37 deaths resulting from COVID-19. Health officials are reporting 1,079 positive cases out of 40,489 tests — resulting in a positive test rate of 2.66 percent.

Justice’s plan, which was announced Monday, speeded up a timeline that previously called for 14 straight days of declining new positive cases before reopening. State officials later identified an 8 to 14 day window before settling on three straight days with a cumulative positive test rate under three percent.

West Virginia’s numbers are far below national averages, state coronavirus craz Dr. Clay Marsh said Tuesday. He also said the person-to-person transmission rate has remained consistently low.

“The percent of positive tests — now, while below three, which is fantastic, given that national still around 20 percent. But also R-naught, the level of interactivity and reproducibility, also has gone below one and stayed there,” Marsh said “So, ultimately, we felt, I felt that that was a sign — in which that we had this good window — along with the reduction reducing rate of positivity, as a percent of total tests over the last eight days.”

As part of the reopening plan, Justice and his advisors want more testing, supplies of protective equipment and contact tracing, the process of determining who an infected person has had contact with.

A report Sunday from NPR shows that North Dakota is the only state with adequate contact tracing capabilities, while three other states will be able to meet the estimated need. According to the report, West Virginia did not respond to NPR’s survey on contact tracing.

“As far as the contact tracing, every state in the union is suffering from the same problem. We don’t have enough. We just plain don’t have enough and we are catching up as fast as we possibly can,” Justice said.

Justice announced Tuesday that West Virginia University’s School of Public Health and the state Department of Health and Human Resources are partnering to recruit and train contact tracers. An online course to train people for work in these jobs is launching this week, he said.

Models show West Virginia will need about 15 people doing contract tracing per 100,000 residents, said state health officer Dr. Cathy Slemp. She said that translates to somewhere between 270 and 300 people.

As part of the WVU-DHHR partnership, Slemp said the state is in a first phase of training workers through a 14-hour online training course that began Monday as well as an eight-week training.

“As we expand more testing and we identify more cases, we will need to have more and more people,” Slemp said.

Marsh said the goal would be to allocate contact tracing resources in places where they are most needed.

“So kind of using the hot spot and concept from law enforcement that where you know you have more activity in that — in the police vernacular, more crime — you put more police officers,” Marsh said.

While Justice’s stay-at-home order remains in effect as his reopening plan is phased in, he reiterated that the goal was to find a way to live with the virus but reduce its impact. The governor acknowledged that there may be instances in which the state may need to pivot.

“There’s no perfect formula here,” Justice said in closing the Tuesday briefing. “But, absolutely, if we watch and we absolutely trace those numbers and we track them and we use a metric — instead of just wild guess and everything — we’re going to absolutely know when we have a problem. And then when we have a problem, we’ll go run to the fire.”

West Virginia Gov. Justice Lays Out Reopening Plan As Coronavirus Positives Drop Below 3 Percent

This is a developing story and may be updated.

West Virginia’s rates of new coronavirus cases are trending down, and as a result, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has announced a plan to reopen the state’s economy. The plan, which is expected to roll out over the course of the next three to six weeks, calls for ramping up testing, contact tracing and increasing supplies of protective gear. The plan also includes some guidelines on how businesses will reopen and vague contingencies should an increase in cases be detected.

Justice’s reopening plans will come earlier than recommendations made by outside organizations, including the federal government.

Widely cited projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show West Virginia could begin to relax social distancing practices on May 8 with proper testing, contact tracing and other public health measures.

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration’s Opening Up America Again Guidelines call for a three-phased approach with 14 days of a downward trajectory in cases during each phase.

But Justice said West Virginia’s numbers indicate the state has beaten the odds and limited the pandemic’s impact on the state’s population.

“If we were situated right in the area where we could be exposed to the biggest degree, we had to do something phenomenally right in order to be able to keep our numbers where we kept our numbers,” he said.

As part of the criteria for reopening, Justice said the state will need to maintain three consecutive days with statewide cumulative positive test results below three percent. He said Monday would serve as the first day in moving forward with the plan.

According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Monday morning update, 2.47 percent of tests have returned a positive result.

Justice said the state has been keeping a close eye on that particular metric, which health officials have noted has remained consistent throughout the state’s response.

“We have constantly watched that number — four percent, four percent, four percent. And then all of a sudden, we started expanding testing in the most vulnerable areas of all — the nursing homes — where we could have had the worst results to where the numbers would have gotten worse,” Justice said. “And as we expanded as testing and everything, we’re starting to see a trend line where the numbers are getting better and better and better.”

However, in unveiling his plan to reopen, Justice noted that West Virginia has high rates of comorbidities such as diabetes, which he said puts the state as the highest risk of the coronavirus out of all 50 states. He also noted that West Virginia is also in the middle of a population cluster that makes up about two-thirds of the nation’s population.

“So we are the breeding ground. We are the spot where everything could blow,” Justice said.

The reopening plan would roll out over the course of three to six weeks, with some restrictions in place for certain types of businesses. The first set of reopenings allowed would be healthcare-related operations such as primary care, physical therapy and dentistry. That falls in line with Justice’s announcement last week that hospitals can begin Monday to apply to resume elective procedures. Testing of daycare staff would also be a part of the first set of reopenings.

“We’re taking baby steps, baby steps way before we walk,” Justice said. “We are going to be very, very cautious in our steps and we’re going to monitor and we’re going to watch these numbers in every way.”

A second phase of the state’s reopening would allow small businesses with less than 10 employees to reopen. Churches and funerals will be allowed to have limited gatherings. Restaurants with outside seating would also be allowed, as would personal services such as hair and nail salons, barber shops and dog groomers.

“If we have the proper [personal protective equipment] that we can supply to our salons or to our barber shops or whatever — [what] we want to have happen is this: we want you to be able to call, make an appointment, stay in your car until you’re called in as you go in. We want to take your temperature. We expect you to wear a mask.”

A third phase of reopening — which is expected to roll out over the course of three weeks — would allow offices, government buildings, hotels, casinos and other businesses to restore operations. Restaurants would then be allowed to resume dine-in services.

“This is only the 80,000 foot flyby and it’s going to be a lot, a lot, a lot more — a lot more — roll out right behind all this,” Justice said.

Justice noted that additional guidelines for the third phase would be offered a week in advance.

As of now, the governor said he was not able to offer a timeline for allowing certain other venues to reopen, such as sports and music venues, as well as movie theaters. Visits to nursing homes will also remain fully restricted, as would gatherings of 25 people or more.

“Everybody should understand this disease is not going anywhere. I mean, this is a disease that we’ve got to figure a way to live with,” Justice said. “If we don’t watch out, I mean, there’s surely a bad outcome on the other side.”

Justice urged residents to continue to practice physical distancing, wear masks and use caution as the state begins to reopen. He said the stay-at-home order will remain in effect and urged people to continue to work from home if possible.

“You now we have a number to watch — a number we want to trend always less than three percent,” Justice said. “Please watch the number, West Virginians, and please continue to really try to help us. The lower the percentage on that number, the better. But we got to try to keep the number less than three.”

Justice said the plan to reopen could be stopped or slowed if hospitalizations spike, if community spread outbreaks are detected or if the cumulative positive test rate passes three percent.