Press release from Delegate Isaac Sponaugle:
FRANKLIN, W.Va.— Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, D-Pendleton, has issued the following statement:
Delegate Sponaugle requests that the Governor call a special session immediately for legislation and funding to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in West Virginia.
“The coronavirus is coming to West Virginia. I know it’s here already, but we haven’t tested enough people to locate it. Approximately 40 people have tested out of a population of 1.8 million,” Sponaugle said. “We’re not equipped to contain it at this point, that ship sailed a couple weeks ago. I do know we’re able to minimize the fallout of it, so our healthcare system isn’t overwhelmed. If it gets overwhelmed, then that will result in an unnecessary high mortality rate.”
A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, looking at state-by-state demographics as well as the rates of illness such as heart disease and diabetes, concluded that West Virginia had a greater share of adults at risk than any other state in the country. It was the only state where over half of all adults were at heightened risk.
“Unfortunately, West Virginians are at the highest risk in the country for coronavirus due to our age and general health,” Sponaugle said. “We have time to minimize the fallout if we act now, but time is ticking away. The Governor needs to call us back to Charleston now for a special session to implement a statewide minimization strategy. It can save thousands of lives if we act now.”
A mitigation strategy is an effort to reduce the virus as much as possible. The mitigation allows for the healthcare system to be able to handle cases much better over time, which drives down the fatality rate. If the infection rate is spread out over time, society can reach a point where the rest of it can be vaccinated, eliminating the risk altogether. The goal is to postpone the coronavirus. Policies, legislation and funding aimed at supporting social distancing are required for a mitigation strategy.
During the Special Session, the following mitigation policies, legislation and funding must be considered:
- Shutting down all state, county and local governments, except for essential personnel.
- Independent testing centers located off site from hospitals, rural health care clinics and county health departments.
- Closure of all education establishments, gyms, museums, cultural and social centers, swimming pools, and theaters.
- Hospital visits by family and friends are limited.
- Work meetings must be postponed. Work from home must be encouraged.
- Delay the primary election for at least 30 to 60 days for the protection of all poll workers and voters.
- Provide adequate emergency funding to implement any policy put into effect.
“We don’t want our healthcare system getting overwhelmed if everyone gets sick all once. A lack of healthy staff, medical equipment and health care facilities will result in a higher mortality rate. Due to a lack of medical resources, decisions get made by doctors between patients on who lives and who dies,” Sponaugle said. “West Virginia needs to avoid being another Italy. We owe it to our citizens to not put them in that dire situation since it can be avoided.”
