CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
At the direction of the Governor and in coordination with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and County Health Departments, the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) began COVID-19 testing today at two different facilities.
Members from Task Force CRE and Task Force Medical tested 203 staff today at the Huttonsville Correction Center in Randolph County. Additional testing for the night shift staff will commence around 4 p.m. this afternoon.
In addition to the mission in Huttonsville, Task Force CRE and Task Force Medical also tested 130 staff at Interstate Hardwoods in Pocahontas County.
This weekend, Task Force CRE and Task Force Medical will provide assistance for high-density population testing in Cabell, Kanawha, Marion and Monongalia counties. To date, they have conducted 2,879 COVID-19 tests for 87 lane support missions and 3,068 tests as a part of their overall response mission.
Since beginning operations in support of the state’s COVID-19 response 68 days ago, the WVNG has completed 1,132 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, 679 members of the WVNG are on duty serving the citizens of the State of West Virginia.
Task Force CRE is continuing to provide PPE training for various businesses, state agencies and first responders. To date, this team has trained 740 businesses, 4,089 personnel and 100 medical or long-term care facilities.
In the last 24 hours, West Virginia Guardsmen and women assisted packing 638 box meals at the Mountaineer Food Bank, 157 family meal boxes and 600 boxes prepared at the Facing Hunger Food Bank and 3,335 box meals to the Harrison County Board of Education food mission in Clarksburg. In addition, they delivered 2,740 meals to Lincoln, Wood and Mason counties via refrigerated trailer.
Task Force Sustainment, our team dedicated to receiving and moving critical supplies across the state, delivered PPE to 7 of 55 county emergency managers yesterday.
West Virginia Guard personnel assisting in sanitization lanes for first responder and public transport vehicles have sanitized 419 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 278 voluntary COVID-19 mapping engagements and 11 expedited specimen transfer to the state lab. To date, the state’s seven regional epidemiology teams have conducted more than 7,565 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