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PARKERSBURG -- Wood County officials discussed continuing changes happening locally as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
The Wood County Commission met Monday via conference call with the meeting carried on the county's YouTube channel.
On Friday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice issued an executive order for Wood County, due to its rising number of COVID-19 cases, to limit outdoor gatherings to five people or fewer, with good social distancing measures put in place; to have businesses encourage employees to work from home when possible; and gave the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department the authority to limit people in certain businesses that stay open on an individual-per-square-foot basis.
Since the commission has been meeting in the Judge Black Annex's large meeting room to allow for good social distancing, around 10 people including the commissioners, the county administrator and other elected officials have regularly been attending the meeting.
Wood County officials planned to switch to teleconferencing last week and were awaiting an order from Justice to do so.
Wood County Administrator Marty Seufer, Wood County Commissioner Jimmy Colombo and Commission President Blair Couch attended in person while Wood County Commissioner Robert Tebay, Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure, Wood County Assessor David Nohe, Wood County Circuit Clerk Celeste Ridgeway, Wood County 911 Director Rick Woodyard and others called in to participate.
Couch said officials met Saturday from the county, local cities, the health department and others to discuss the governor's order designating Wood County as a "Hot Spot" for the virus and implementing an order from the health department.
Although Wood County only had 19 confirmed cases as of Monday morning, the number of cases in Washington County (39) and the fact that Wood County has a regional medical center that pulls in people from a 10-county region led to the designation.
''That was part of the consideration in that we are a regional commerce and health care provider,'' Couch said. ''We may have a lower count than Jackson County (27), but people come to our county to do business.''
Many people from surrounding areas come to local stores in Parkersburg and Wood County, he added. Some stores are starting to keep a count of how many people come in and go out as well as limiting the number of people in a store at any one time, he said.
People from other counties have been hospitalized at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, Couch said
As a result, places are limited to around two people per 1,000-square-feet, not counting employees, Couch said. A typical dollar store has around 7,000-square-feet so that would be around 14 customers at one time.
Commissioner Bob Tebay asked if local health officials have discussed President Donald Trump's desire to reopen the economy soon. Couch, who serves on the health department's board, said that was not discussed.
West Virginia is a rural state and does not have the population density some other states have, he said. However, the state's population is older on average and more at risk from COVID-19 complications. The state also has a higher percentage of overweight people, people with high blood pressure, diabetes and other risk factors that could lead to a higher mortality rate from COVID-19 complications.
''Our governor was right in saying we need to be made whole,'' Couch said. ''We need to be given all of the protective measures as our population is more at risk.
''I have seen some people taking it very seriously and others who are not at all.''
Colombo said some counties are opening up and several states have never fully closed down. He said many parts of the country can't base every action on what is happening in the larger cities.
''If this goes on for another month, you will see around 80 percent of small businesses close,'' he said.
Seufer, who is a city councilman in Williamstown, said they rely a great deal on small businesses for their local economy, which affects the city.
''We are already going to take a hit,'' he said of the city's finances.
Couch said he hopes the health department's order can be drawn back soon.
Woodyard asked if any of the people infected in Wood County have fully recovered and are able to re-enter society.
Couch said he does not have a count of local people who have recovered.
Officials said in some parts of the country, it looks like the curve for new cases is starting to flatten.
However, the potential still remains for the virus spreading as people still come together. Maintaining social distancing measures remains important in keeping the spread down.
''Every interaction we have...I am getting their full circle of people they have interacted with over the last 24 hours,'' Couch said. ''When you are dealing with the public, like we are, our circles get bigger.
''The whole idea is to make the circles small and that is what self-isolation and social distancing is all about.''
In other business:
Woodyard said the county had some power outages from weekend storms and that crews were in the process of repairing them.
He did not have any kind of traffic count on the roads inside the county over the weekend when asked by Colombo. Colombo said, from what he saw, there weren't too many people out.
Woodyard told county officials they were working with other emergency officials in Charleston to obtain more personal protective equipment (PPE) for more local first responders.
The drive-thru facility at 2435 Dudley Ave. in Parkersburg has seen use from the public since opening last week. Personnel are available from the County Clerk, the Assessor and the Circuit Clerk.
Ridgeway said they have not had anyone who needed their services yet at the drive-thru, but theyhave people there. There are signs at the Judicial Annex telling people that option is available.
The Dudley Avenue site is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.