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ELKINS -- Officials said misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic has been "spreading like wildfire" on social media within Randolph County, along with an "erroneous letter" that claims to represent the National Guard.
During a conference call among county leaders to discuss the pandemic response on Monday afternoon, Randolph County Office of Emergency Management Executive Director Cindy Hart said she had been contacted by Elkins Mayor Van Broughton about the amount of misinformation circulating locally.
"Social media is out of control," Hart said, adding that false reports are "spreading like wildfire."
After receiving a call from Broughton, Hart said she went online and tried to "combat" the false information by posting facts.
"Unfortunately there's a lot of people putting information out there that's not true," she said.
Bonnie Woodrum, infectious disease nurse at the Randolph-Elkins Health Department, noted that Randolph County has had four confirmed cases of coronavirus out of more than 100 people tested, with five results pending.
"The rest have been negative, which is really good," she said. "We have had negative results from several who have been working in the community, and false rumors are circulating. Please consult reliable sources for information.
"There's even a rumor that I'm positive, which is not true," she said with a laugh. "I've been tested."
Broughton thanked Hart for posting correct information online.
"It's very much appreciated," the mayor said.
Hart also described an "erroneous letter" circulating locally that purports to be from the West Virginia National Guard and states that martial law will soon be enforced.
The letter "even has the National Guard emblem at the bottom," Hart said.
She advised residents who receive the letter to either ignore it or report it to state National Guard officials.
Also during Monday's conference call:
• Hart said that close to 1,000 masks will soon be sent to Randolph County for use by health workers and emergency responders.
The masks will then be picked up by the state National Guard, sanitized and redistributed, she said.
• Randolph County Sheriff Mark Brady said officers are currently monitoring and patrolling the local campgrounds after complaints of out-of-state campers disregarding state regulations during the pandemic.
"The state police and sheriff's office are working together to make sure the policies are clear to everyone, with the influx of people working in the gas and oil industry staying in the campgrounds," Brady said.
• Randolph County Commissioner Mark Scott spoke regarding Gov. Jim Justice's statement on Friday saying each county will receive a grant of $100,000 in "hero pay" to reward essential workers.
"We're trying to get more clarification on who is eligible and how it will be distributed," Scott said.
• Hart said 51,000 power outages had been reported across the state from storms Sunday evening and Monday morning.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, there had been nine deaths in West Virginia related to coronavirus, with 633 positive cases. A total of 16,748 people have been tested, with a positive result percentage of 3.76%.
In our region, Randolph, Barbour and Tucker had four cases each, Upshur had three, Hardy had two, and Grant and Pendleton had one. Pocahontas County still did not have any confirmed cases.