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This week, the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) surpassed day 230 of activation supporting the state’s COVID-19 response. Currently, 421 members of the WVNG are on State Active Duty (SAD) and/or 502f federal duty orders to help combat the ongoing pandemic.
Throughout the month of October, the WVNG completed 193 total missions to include assisting state and local agencies throughout the Mountain State to organize and execute testing lanes and events, the continued delivery and stockpile management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for medical, non-medical, first responder and public safety agencies, continued sanitation efforts in schools, long-term care facilities, etc., assisting public health professionals in contract tracing for more than 6,453 positive test results, and maintaining 20 Wi-Fi locations at armories around the state offering free internet access to students and parents in support of the Governor’s Kids Connect initiative.
Per the Governor’s directive, in October the WVNG stood up additional testing teams tasked with assisting state and local agencies to increase the pace of COVID-19 testing efforts across West Virginia in order to identify hotspots and areas of increased community spread. As of Oct. 30, 2020, the Guard has 21 testing teams available for deployment around the state. As a result of this manpower surge, the Guard was able to assist officials conduct an average of more than 6,668 tests per day in West Virginia during October, producing a one-month high total of 200,054 tests administered.
To help further build overall testing capacity for West Virginia, WVNG members of Task Force Sustainment (TF-Sustainment) assembled 365,356 COVID-19 testing kits for future distribution and use.
WVNG Task Force Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Enterprise (TF-CRE) completed 52 disinfection missions during the month of October, focusing on schools, government and city facilities, long-term care facilities, and nursing homes in 22 counties. TF-CRE also conducted 1,442 N95 respirator mask fit tests, while disinfecting 11,591 masks for eventual re-use by medical professionals.
In total, the Guard has successfully completed more than 2,191 assigned missions since the beginning of the worldwide pandemic and state-level activation. These mission successes include, but are not limited to:
• Distribution of 6,554,422 pieces of PPE to all 55 counties
• Sanitization of 617 first responder vehicles
• Administration of 52,840 COVID-19 tests at various testing lanes or support missions
• Assembly of 365,356 COVID-19 testing kits
• Training of 834 businesses, 111 long term care facilities or medical practices and 4,838 civilians on COVID-19 prevention best practices
• Production of 220,639 pieces of PPE to include masks, gowns, face shields, etc.
This month saw the return of more than 200 members from both the 157th Military Police and Special Operations Detachment-Europe from overseas contingency missions. The 157th MP Co. returns from a nine-month rotation to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and SOD-E returned from missions in the Middle East. Many of these returning Soldiers have already volunteered to assist in West Virginia COVID-19 response efforts.
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2020 19:28 |
| Story ID: | 382144 |
| Location: | CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, W.Va. Guard Highlights COVID-19 Response for October, by Edwin Wriston, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
