During Monday's COVID-19 press conference, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice once again stated that inaccurate numbers being reported in regard to active cases of the virus will not be tolerated.

 

A discrepancy in the data was first brought to light last week and in the aftermath of that, Dr. Cathy Slemp resigned as Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health.

 

"Here's the bottom line, we have now digged deeper and deeper," Justice said. "We had more active cases reported than we had active cases. We are going back to tray and find the situation with each of the active cases. For example, we had people in Huttonsville tested postive and at the time they became active. We got past the 14-day period and we didn't take them off the list. We've done this in different situations throughout the state.

 

"It's imperative to me that the numbers be right. We are probably looking at somewhere close to 300 active cases that could be pulled off that list. We've worked through half of it and we're finding too many mistakes. I want our local health departments to hear me. You have done a wonderful job, but if you need to help make sure these numbers are right, I will work with you. We have got to have accurate numbers. I'm not going to tolerate somebody being asleep at the switch."

 

Justice said that his usual Monday starts with a conference call between state governors and vice president Mike Pence. During Monday's call, the issue of a secondary outbreak was brought up.

 

"With this secondary outbreak it is now affecting people a couple of decades under the outbreak levels we saw before," Justice said. "For our younger people, young people are dying from this. Absolutely becoming troublesome. Before, we thought if you were under the age of 50 and you got this, no big problem. But that's not the case. Now, in most it isn't a problem but it can be a problem.

 

"People are struggling to understand why on one hand a 40-year-old is getting it and it's a problem and on the other hand it's not a problem. Our younger people have to realize too that just because they get it and don't have a problem, they can still bring it home and it can be a problem for your parents or a big problem for your grandparents."

 

Justice didn't say something like the Myrtle Beach related outbreaks in the state were a direct cause of the secondary outbreak but it could very well be a factor.

 

The governor also said that although the state's current 1.70 perentage rate is great, it could turn for the worse in a hurry. He used Texas and Florida as examples. Texas was down to 4 percent, but as of today back up to 14 percent. Florida's has climbed to 15.5 percent.

 

"Those states are surrounded by water," Justice said. "It's not coming to these states by tuna fish. It's coming from people. We are in a state where we don't have a body of water on our border, we are surrounded by people. We are trying to keep you as safe as we possibly can but we absolutely have to keep our guard up."

 

According to Justice 9 percent of the state's population has now been tested for COVID-19.

 

The governor said the state's two veterans homes in Barboursville and Clarksburg have had all staff tested with no positive cases.

 

As per usual, Justice began Monday's briefing by offerning his condolences to the family of a COVID-19 related death. The state's 93rd casualty was an 82-year-old man from Greenbrier County. According to Justice the man was associated with the Greenbrier County church where the first church outbreak was reported.

 

Video of Monday's press conference can be viewed below.