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Coronavirus

COVID cases on the rise in Randolph

ELKINS — Like most of West Virginia, Randolph County is seeing the number of active coronavirus cases rising. Bonnie Woodrum, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department’s infectious disease specialist, said the increase in the county’s numbers is due to residents no longer doing what they once were. “Our numbers are going up because people are just not taking any precautions,” Woodrum said during Randolph County’s Office of Emergency Management COVID-19 update conference call on Monday. “I know that parties, graduations and such are going on and precautions are really not ...

Justice addresses vaccine hesitancy

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice has several ideas for getting the remaining unvaccinated portion of West Virginia’s eligible population to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but very few specific plans to accomplish this goal. When asked about whether the state had a specific plan for vaccine hesitancy during his Monday COVID-19 briefing at the State Capitol Building, Justice didn’t answer the question. Instead, Justice chose to either focus on ideas with no concrete proposals on how to accomplish those ideas. These ideas include using fixed and mobile vaccine clinic sites; setting up ...

Justice to offer incentives for youth vaccinations

CHARLESTON — In order to help get over the wall of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and help incentivize eligible teenagers and young adults, Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday that the state could give out savings bonds in exchange for shots in arms. During his Monday COVID-19 briefing at the State Capitol Building, Justice offered state residents between the ages of 16 and 35 a $100 U.S. Savings bond once they get vaccinated with ether the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, or the Johnson and Johnson vaccine that was previously paused. “In trying to come up with a way that is truly going to ...

Move Forward

If you had trouble keeping track of all the executive orders issued by Gov. Jim Justice during the pandemic — 91 of them — you are not alone. But the governor has made an effort to clean all that up, and last week issued a new order that canceled some of the outdated orders while clarifying others. “These orders were absolutely necessary to keep our people safe, to keep our businesses afloat and to keep us on the right track to beat this virus,” he said. Justice is correct that we must move forward, though it is essential we do so safely and with a little common ...

COVID-19 vaccines to be available at state tourneys

CHARLESTON (AP) — Fans attending the West Virginia girls and boys state basketball tournaments will have the chance to get their COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines will be administered starting Tuesday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, the Kanawha-Charleston Health ...

Justice sets COVID-19 vaccine goal to remove mask mandates

CHARLESTON — To help encourage reluctant West Virginians to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, Gov. Jim Justice set a vaccine goal Wednesday for the state, with elimination of indoor mask mandates as the prize. “We’ve still got a ways to go,” Justice said during his Wednesday ...