West Virginia Governor's Office issued the following announcement on May 22.
Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia health leaders and other officials for his latest daily press briefing regarding the State’s COVID-19 response.
MONITORING CONTINUES IN BERKELEY, JEFFERSON COUNTIES
On Friday, Gov. Justice provided an update on the increased monitoring underway in two Eastern Panhandle counties that recently triggered the State’s new Heightened Alert System.
Governor reported that Jefferson County had 20 new cases, while Berkeley County had 15 new cases over a 24-hour period.
The Governor ordered the West Virginia National Guard to respond to the region and, today, Gov. Justice announced that the situation is believed to be stable at this time.
“The net of the whole thing is that, at this time, things are okay,” Gov. Justice said. “We’re going to continue monitoring what’s going on in Berkeley and Jefferson counties all the time. But things are okay right now.
“We want to continue to know that this is a potential high-exposure area and we want you to continue wearing masks as much as you possibly can,” Gov. Justice continued. “We’re not going to make it mandatory at this time, but I would highly encourage everyone to wear masks every time they are outside of their homes.”
The Governor also thanked all those who helped to execute a fast response in the area.
“We sent the National Guard up there, we listened to input from our legislators and health professionals on the ground, we held a conference call with medical experts who were weighing the situation, we did an incredible amount of testing,” Gov. Justice said. “I’m really, really proud of what we did in response to this situation in the Eastern Panhandle.”
Original source can be found here.
