John Doyle, WV Delegate, District 67:

"Earlier today Governor Jim Justice held a press conference. Afterwards, I spoke with one of his senior advisers. Here is the information I can provide.

West Virginia has been allotted approximately 500 coronavirus tests. 84 people have been tested, with no positives. Our state remains alone among the 50 with no identified cases. With such a short supply of tests it's impossible to reach everyone who might need to be tested.

We have such a short supply of tests because of our small population and because we haven't had any cases. But, I ask, is the short supply of tests at least part of the reason we haven't had any cases? It sure sounds like a "catch-22" to me.


I'm not blaming the governor. The decision to allocate only 500 tests to West Virginia was made by the federal government. Apparently, we're not the only state that is in short supply of tests. According to the governor's office, Ohio, with more than six times our population, has tested fewer than 300 people. This illustrates how poorly prepared the whole country is.

At least for now restaurants & bars are to remain open. While the governor didn't say so at his press conference, this also applies to larger venues, like casinos and ski resorts.

I will post again when I get more information."