West Virginia National Guard Story Archives - Page 3 of 9

As COVID-19 Cases Drop, W.Va. National Guard Ends Hospital Aid

Citing a declining number of COVID-19 patients in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday that the National Guard will end its staffing assistance to hospitals on March 11.

The National Guard’s staffing support began in January as hospitals were overwhelmed with virus patients.

There were 481 people hospitalized for the virus Wednesday, the lowest since late August and down from the record of 1,097 on Feb. 2, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources’ COVID-19 dashboard.

The number of active COVID-19 cases statewide, about 2,140, is the lowest since July 29.

“We’re really, really getting out of this,” Justice said, though he cautioned that residents shouldn’t stop taking preventive measures against the virus.

While daily confirmed virus cases and hospitalizations continue to fall, deaths haven’t.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the seven-day average of 7.5 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents in West Virginia is double the national rate of 3.64.

There have been 6,381 virus deaths in West Virginia since the start of the pandemic.

National Guard To Help Staffing Efforts At W.Va. Hospital

Two dozen members of the West Virginia National Guard are being sent to support hospital staffing efforts as COVID-19 continues to ravage the state.

The National Guard said Thursday on Twitter that 25 members will assist operations at Charleston Area Medical Center next week.

Additional National Guard members will be trained next Tuesday.

Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday directed leaders of his pandemic team to review and approve requests from hospitals for additional staffing support from the National Guard. Grafton City Hospital is among other facilities besides CAMC to make such a request.

There were at least 861 COVID-19 patients in West Virginia hospitals on Thursday, the highest figure since early October.

Coronavirus Cases In W.Va. Rise, Hoyer Retires From National Guard And Takes On New Role At WVU

As we enter into Thanksgiving week, West Virginia’s coronavirus numbers continue to climb. Gov. Jim Justice in his latest virtual press briefing called on West Virginians to consider making changes to their Thanksgiving celebrations this year.

“It would be much, much better if you were with the family members that you’re with all the time,” Justice said. “We absolutely depend on you to be making good decisions that will just not make this situation worse and worse for your family and worse for all those you love the most.”

State health officials also urged residents not to travel.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports since the start of the pandemic, more than 41,000 West Virginians have contracted the virus. Since Friday, more than 2,600 new cases have been identified, and there are more than 13,600 cases considered active.

More than 460 people are hospitalized, 136 people are in intensive care, and 60 people are on ventilators. More than 660 West Virginians have died.

“In West Virginia, we’re approaching 1,000 COVID cases per day,” said Coronavirus Czar Clay Marsh during the governor’s briefing. “What that tells us is that despite all the testing, and despite all the contact tracing, that in some areas, COVID is spreading fast enough that perhaps you know, some focused and precise strategies will need to be done.”

Marsh said these strategies, regarding any new mandates or restrictions, would need to come from the governor. While the governor has said he will not shut the state down, he has also said “anything is on the table” to try and mitigate the spread of the disease, depending on how bad it gets.

Justice, in his Monday press briefing, also recognized Maj. General James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard, who after 40 years is retiring.

Hoyer is well known for his military service and his leadership when responding to the 2016 flood that devastated parts of West Virginia and killed 23 people.

Hoyer served as adjutant general for the past 10 years, and will continue to serve the state in a new role with West Virginia University.

“I felt it would be most appropriate to come to [Justice] and say, I think it’s time for me to go ahead and step out of uniform,” Hoyer said. “Let somebody else focus on taking care of the soldiers and airmen of the guard day-to-day, so I can focus with you on pandemic response and vaccine distribution and those economic development opportunities.”

The governor said Hoyer has accepted the position of senior associate vice president at WVU, where he will continue on the governor’s COVID-19 advisory team and vaccination response. He will also continue working on economic development ventures such as Virgin Hyperloop.

“He has, and continues to be, a great friend, a great leader, a great person for the state of West Virginia,” Justice said. “Cathy and I are excited for him and Amy and their entire family as they enter a new chapter, and our general continues to serve me in this great state, and I could not be happier, could not be more honored.”

Justice appointed Brig. Gen. Bill Crane to serve as the new adjutant general in the West Virginia National Guard. Crane will take up the position on Jan. 4.

W.Va. Soldiers Return Home From Middle East Duty

Families welcomed home 138 members of the West Virginia National Guard at Laidley Field in Charleston Tuesday.

Hundreds of people came out to greet members of the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment, who were returning from the Middle East. The squadron was deployed for nine months, mostly in Kuwait with some serving in Iraq and Syria.

The soldiers arrived on two buses, walking out onto the field under sunny skies, between two lines of American and West Virginia flags. Families held signs that read: “You promised to come home. I promised to be here. Welcome home.”

Soldiers were met with tears, laughter and screams.

Gov. Jim Justice, who is also the commander in chief for the guard, spoke at the event.

“It’s so wonderful to have you home, to have you home in these absolute wonderful mountains,” he said.

There are over 450 members of the state’s Army and Air National Guard deployed across the world. Holli Nelson, the national guard state public affairs officer, said COVID has not impacted deployment other than social-distancing requirements at welcome-home events.

“Ultimately we have a responsibility to be ready to fight no matter what else is taking place in the world,” she said.

The welcome-back event closed with the beloved Mountain State theme song, John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads.”

West Virginia Officials Scramble To Help Town's Water Outage

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday directed the state National Guard and other state emergency officials to help a small town that has been without running water for several days.

The Republican governor said the National Guard and additional emergency officials will provide Gary, West Virginia with resources after a pump in the town’s 563-customer water system broke last week.

Gary Treasurer Tracy Allison has described the situation as a health crisis where residents are having to scramble to get water to wash their hands. The governor said state officials have delivered thousands of gallons of drinking water to the town. City officials have also donated water.

Among the businesses without water service are the McDowell County Health Department, a nursing home and other health clinics.

Local officials have approved the purchase of a new pump but it’s not clear when the equipment will be available.

W.Va. National Guard Responds To Member's Anti-Protest Social Media Posts

The West Virginia National Guard verified on Tuesday one of its members in Putnam County had made “inflammatory” remarks on social media, regarding nationwide protests against racially charged police brutality.

The Guard is consulting its social media policy to determine how to handle the situation, according to Adjutant General James Hoyer.

“It’s my responsibility … to make sure that when we make mistakes and do things wrong, that we take responsibility and we take corrective action,” Hoyer said during a virtual briefing on Tuesday. “We’ll be taking the appropriate disciplinary action related to that individual and any others we might find, who make inflammatory comments related to protests going on across the nation.”

The Guard later verified the member is Noah Garcelon, a police officer in Winfield, Putnam County, who resigned on Monday after his social media posts.

Per WSAZ, Garcelon posted that he’d “start firing live rounds” at protestors in Chicago, whom he referred to as a “bunch of animals.”

According to Winfield Police Chief Ron Arthur, Garcelon was hired in December, but had not been to the police academy yet.

Arthur said Garcelon did his work while paired with other officers, for on-the-job training. Arthur’s other five officers all have been to the academy, and he himself retired from the state police in May.

Protestors took to the streets across the state and country last week, and continue to do so this week, after the March death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Taylor was a medical worker who died after police shot her in her own apartment. Floyd was a security guard and bouncer who died of asphyxia, after an officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.

Garcelon’s resignation comes as hundreds of protestors rallied and Marched in Morgantown Tuesday afternoon. Several other events in the Mountain State were held over the weekend. To Arthur’s knowledge, the roughly 2,000-person town of Winfield has not hosted any demonstrations.

Protests are slated to continue throughout the week in Princeton, Bluefield, Charleston and others. So far, most events have been peaceful.

In Minneapolis, the state National Guard has been deployed to aid local law enforcement with enforcing curfews and interacting with protestors, much of which has involved tear gas and non-lethal firings. Hoyer and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday they can’t foresee the guard getting involved here, unless there’s violence or damage to local buildings and businesses.

Corrections Testing

Plans from the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in addition to state health officials, to test all prisoners and correctional staff remain unclear, even after the governor said last week everyone in incarceration would soon be tested.

Only a little more than 140 people have been tested between the state’s 10 jails and 10 out of its 11 prisons. That excludes the Huttonsville Correctional Center, a prison where all of more than 1,000 prisoners and staff were tested. As of Monday afternoon, there were 119 positive prisoners at Huttonsville, eight positive employees and no other documented cases in the DCR.

There are roughly 9,300 people in the state-run prisons and jails.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.