As a result of Executive Order 9-20 issued by WV Governor Jim Justice on March 16, 2020 wherein a State of Emergency was declared for all counties in West Virginia and ordered the following:

  1. Stay at home or your place of residence
  2. Non-essential businesses and operations must temporarily cease operations
  3. Prohibited activities
  4. Avoid social gatherings
  5. Intent of this order
  6. Enforcement
  7. Duration

Executive Order 24-20 was issued on April 10, 2020 for Wood County due to increasing numbers of persons diagnosed with COVID-19. Further measures are necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, disrupt the spread of the virus, and mitigate the impact of the virus in certain counties due to the propensity of the COVID-19 virus to spread via personal interactions.

It is necessary that essential businesses and operations further limit the number of employees and members of the public entering and exiting their premises, and to the maximum extent possible, must shift work and workers off-premises.

This new order puts forward the following:

  1. Limits outdoor activities to five (5) person gatherings while maintaining social distancing of six feet from one another
  2. All essential businesses shall order their employees and/or contractors, to the maximum extent possible, to work from their home or residence, or to otherwise work remotely.
  3. The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department is hereby directed to establish and enforce protocols to limit occupancy of any such business that remains open to the public on an individual-per-square-foot basis.

Whereas, the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department and the County Health Officer have broad authority to regular matters relating to public health under Chapter 16 of the West Virginia Code, the following measures are deemed necessary to save lines to the extent humanly possible and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public from the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Therefore, the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department and the Health Officer hereby ORDERS:

  1. Stay at home or your place of residence: all individuals within Wood County are under a general stay-at-home order and are directed to stay at home or their place of residence unless performing an essential activity, as defined within Section 1 of the Governor of West Virginia’s Stay at Home Executive Order 9-20.
    • In order to observe the stay at home order and limit instances of persons leaving their home or residence, all persons going to or from the home of a family member shall limit the number of visits to the greatest extent possible.
    • To prevent spread of COVID-19, groups engaging in outdoor activities are hereby limited to a maximum of (5) people and must maintain social distancing of six feet from one another at all times.
  2. Essential Businesses and Operations, as outlined in Executive Order 9-20, Section 3 in Wood County shall immediately order their employees and/or contractors, to the maximum extent possible, to work from their home or residence, or to otherwise work remotely in order to limit the instances requiring their employees to leave home.
    • Any business permitted to remain open, that chooses to remain open, and requires their employees to report to work, must take the following actions:
      1. Implement a plan to limit staff to essential personnel only
      2. Implement social distancing practices within and around the workplace, including remaining 6 feet away from others, and
      3. Supply adequate disinfecting and hygienic supplies to employees, such as disinfecting wipes or spray, hand sanitizer, soap & water, and when at all possible face masks and gloves.
    • Any business permitted to remain open, that chooses to remain open, and requires employees to report to work, shall establish access restrictions that limit access of the public as follows:
      1. No more than two (2) individual members of the public may enter into the business per 1,000 square feet of public space at any given time
      2. To ensure the number of people per square foot is not exceeded, the business shall keep track of the number of people who enter and leave the store on a one-in, one-out basis after capacity is reached
      3. The business shall take actions to establish social distancing among their public customers to the greatest extent possible, including but not limited to marking distances six feet apart, at any area where people are likely to congregate or stand in line; create one-way aisles or other restrictions to limit close contact with other people, and encourage, whenever possible to allow customers to place orders ahead, where feasible, that will allow them to pick up or pay without entering the business.
      4. Prominently display these regulations, including posting maximum person occupancy of each essential business under the square footage regulations established herein, at no less than (5) locations, including entrance to the store, in addition to posting the same on the business’s website and all social media platforms, if applicable.
  3. Any resident of Wood County who has a critical need for goods and services and are unable to obtain such due to this or any other Order related to the COVID-19 pandemic is encouraged to call WV 211 United Way Information and Referral line to seek assistance.
  4. Pursuant to West Virginia Code 16-3-2 Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department is authorized to establish quarantine of any individuals to prevent the spread of any infectious or communicable diseases. Therefore:
    • Any person awaiting coronavirus test results shall self-quarantine until those results are known and reported to the health department.
    • Any person diagnosed with COVID-19 shall self-isolate as directed by the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department and in accord with the instruction of their treating physician, in a portion of their home or residence that limits, as much as possible, their contact with any other member of their residence.
    • Whenever possible, any person suspected of having or diagnosed with COVID-19 who is under self-quarantine or isolation should use his or her own bathroom.
    • Any person living in the same household as a suspected or diagnosed person with COVID-19 or who has had known contact with a diagnosed person should contact the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department for further instruction.
  5. Enforcement of this Order shall be at the direction of the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department and County Health Officer. Pursuant to Executive Order 24-20, West Virginia State Police are directed to provide support in enforcing the terms of this Order.
    • Accordingly, the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department hereby requests that West Virginia State Police assist in the enforcement of this Order.
    • If West Virginia State Police resources are not available, Wood County Sheriff’s office and all municipal law enforcement agencies located in Wood County may be called upon to enforce this order.
  6. Any adult member of the public can report non-compliance with these orders by calling the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department at 304-485-7374.
  7. The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department reserves the right to amend this order as necessary to protect the health and welfare of the public. Any amendment made will be communicated by media release and other reasonable methods of notification.

The above information and order was discussed and reviewed by the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department, Mayor Tom Joyce, Mayor Randy Rapp, Mayor Jean Ford, Wood County Prosecutor Patrick Lefebure, and Commissioner Blair Couch.
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