CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
Members of Task Force CRE met with safety representatives from Toyota Manufacturing’s Buffalo, West Virginia, plant to discuss and share best practices for manufacturing facilities with regard to social distancing, facility spacing and personal protective equipment wear.
The WVNG team also assisted in providing fit testing of N95 masks produced at TMMWV to be donated in the future. Toyota has been an avid support organization for the state's fight against COVID-19 and to date, has donated more than 32,800 face shields for front line healthcare workers.
Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, West Virginia Adjutant General, paid special tribute to the men and women serving alongside West Virginia National Guard service members for Military Spouse Appreciation Day during today’s press briefing with Governor Jim Justice.
“Our military spouses are the unsung heroes of the United States Military,” said Hoyer. “Our men and women would not be able to accomplish the mission without the support, flexibility and dedication of their spouses. They are an underappreciated group of individuals who enable our country to maintain its combat preparedness and effectiveness through their support and contributions. We celebrate them today and every day and are thankful for all they do for each of us.”
Since beginning operations in support of the state’s COVID-19 response 56 days ago, the WVNG has completed 882 missions through our six lines of effort of operationalizing of the event, stabilizing the population, providing logistical movement of critical supplies, innovation, state surge capacity and capability, and conducting data analysis to combat the virus. Currently, 696 members of the WVNG are on duty serving the citizens of the State of West Virginia.
In the last 24 hours, West Virginia Guardsmen and women assisted packing 1,572 box meals at the Mountaineer Food Bank and 288 family meal boxes at the Facing Hunger Food Bank in Huntington. In addition, 10 WVNG personnel assisting in packing and delivering meals at the Milton Food Bank today and 3,500 meals will be delivered via refrigerated trailer to Putnam County to support local feeding programs.
Task Force CRE is continuing to provide PPE training for children’s home society locations throughout the state, as well as area healthcare facilities and retail establishments and have six engagements scheduled today. To date, this team has trained 713 businesses, 3,756 personnel and 87 medical or long-term care facilities.
Task Force Sustainment, our team dedicated to receiving and moving critical supplies across the state, delivered PPE to five counties through the local emergency managers.
West Virginia Guard personnel assisting in sanitization lanes for first responder and public transport vehicles have sanitized 324 vehicles in two locations – Huntington and Charleston – which includes ambulances, police vehicles and public transport buses.
West Virginia National Guard medical personnel augmenting DHHR’s regional epidemiology teams were able to support 171 voluntary COVID-19 mapping engagements and 11 expedited transfers to the state lab. To date, the state’s seven regional epidemiology teams have conducted more than 5,921 voluntary COVID-19 mappings.
All current and future missions performed by the WVNG are a part of a coordinated state-level public health preparation and response effort for the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, initiated by Governor Jim Justice, and being led by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
B-roll footage of current and ongoing WVNG missions are available at: www.dvidshub.net/units/wv-ang