The Greater Greenbrier COVID-19 Task Force met this morning via conference call and reports the following information.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT. Greenbrier County has 1,694 confirmed cases, 3 suspect cases, 806 probable cases, 2,407 recovered cases, 36 active cases, 0 hospitalized, and 60 deaths. (These numbers will be updated this afternoon.) Our infection rate is over 9% right now, which is up over recent weeks. Multiple cases of the UK variant are present here in Greenbrier County. Please continue to take precautions and be tested so that we can keep numbers down.
VACCINE CLINIC. We have more vaccines available this week than ever before! If you’ve been on a waitlist for a vaccine longer than three weeks, please call us directly: 304-645-1787. We will get you vaccinated! Greenbrier County residents will receive priority, but we will put shots in arms for any WV resident if we have shots available…and we do right now. Right now, half of Greenbrier County has had at least one shot.
VACCINE DEMAND. Demand for vaccines is down recently. This will affect future doses of vaccine. So please sign up now for a vaccine! Anyone who wants a shot locally will be able to get it in the next two weeks. Just call or sign up! If you know any segments of the population who need a vaccine, please speak up. You can reach out to the health department directly or send an email to stephen.baldwin@wvsenate.gov.
VACCINE FINDER. There’s a website which can connect citizens to vaccines via all local sources including pharmacies. Check out www.vaccinefinder.org to use that tool.
VACCINES FOR CHILDREN? Right now, vaccines are limited to people ages 16 and up. That’s because clinical trials are still occurring to see how effective/safe the vaccines are for children. It will probably be a while before that info is available.
RCB CLINIC. Please keep up with your routine health care. 41% of Americans during the pandemic have delayed or deferred routine health care. We continue to provide options for our patients to receive routine care.
RAINELLE MEDICAL CENTER. FREE Covid Testing continues at RMC on M-T-W from 10-12. Covid Testing Daily at all other times, but you must get on the schedule and must bill insurance. FREE “Drive up” testing at Midland Trail Health Center on Thursday’s from 10-1, and FREE testing available on Tuesdays & Thursdays at Meadow Bridge School Based Health Clinic until further notice. RMC will have a vaccine clinic in Rainelle this Thursday as well from 8 to 5:30. Call to get on the list: 304-438-6188. We are continuing to urge patients to wear masks in the clinic, even if they have been vaccinated.
MEALS FOR VACCINE CLINIC WORKERS. We are supplying free meals provided by local restaurants and paid for by local donors for all county health department vaccine clinic workers each week. Many thanks to Jen Mason for coordinating, Kelly and the State Fair for hosting the clinics, Kayla with GGLTRC for coordinating volunteers, and all local partners making these meals possible!
VACCINES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS. If you know a senior citizen who needs help getting a vaccine (either a ride or getting registered), please call 2-1-1 and Katie with United Way will assist you. Volunteers with Shepherd’s Center, the Committee on Aging, Rainelle Medical Center, and United Way will assist with transportation when needed. Also, the PSD office (in the old Kentucky Fried Chicken building in Fairlea) is happy to help senior citizens sign up for a vaccine using their office computers. Just stop by the office!
PROOF OF VACCINE. We are not aware of any local services or businesses which are requiring proof of vaccination for participation, but we are probably heading that direction as a nation in terms of travel, entertainment, etc.
BROADBAND. If you’re interested in joining the effort to improve broadband, please email stephen.baldwin@wvsenate.gov. We are meeting this Thursday at 9am.
WV SENATE. Some folks are asking: If I’ve been fully vaccinated but have a direct contact with a positive case, do I have to quarantine? According to the Bureau for Public Health, no. You must be tested after five days, but you do not have to quarantine. You only have to quarantine after a direct contact if you’re not fully vaccinated.
CAPTURING LESSONS LEARNED. Dave Lumsden raised the issue of how we can capture lessons learned from this pandemic locally for future use? We discussed who might be the group to do that, and we decided that group was this COVID Task Force. Once the dust settles, we will consolidate that information from all of our partners and share it widely. This “community response” effort will help us deal with future emergencies.
Submitted by Senator Stephen Baldwin, chair of the Task Force.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.