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West Virginia Gov. concerned over nursing home deaths, COVID-19 cases tied to MB travel


Tourists walk along the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk (Nick Papantonis/WPDE)
Tourists walk along the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk (Nick Papantonis/WPDE)
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Three people at a nursing home in West Virginia died from coronavirus and the state's top health official linked the cases to travel to Myrtle Beach.

As of July 29, at Princeton Health Care Center, a long-term care facility in Mercer County, West Va., there were 42 active cases at the facility and three deaths as a result of the outbreak, according to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice.

“The evidence is, as we have completed contact tracing and looked at the source of the outbreak in the Princeton nursing home, that it came in from Myrtle Beach,” DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said on July 29. “It’s certainly a concern."

According to the News and Sentinel newspaper, a statement was posted on Princeton Center's website stating it was unaware the outbreak was linked to Myrtle Beach.

RELATED: City leader discusses tourism as W.Va. points to Myrtle Beach for COVID cases

Because of those cases - and an increase across the state - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Monday he is concerned over the migration of coronavirus from the south – including people who continue to visit Myrtle Beach.

“I’ve said it West Virginia, over and over and over. If you look at the counties there are counties we’re having real issues with,” he said. “Where do they border? They border the southern states. They border this migration.”

In the past few months, Justice has warned the residents of the state to not travel – and specifically recommended not going to Myrtle Beach.

On June 17, 2020, officials from West Virginia started linking cases to travel to Myrtle Beach. At that time, eight people had tested positive.

By June 26, there were more than 100 cases tied to travel.

“We, no question, have problems with people going to Myrtle Beach, per se, and coming home, maybe not having symptoms but having this disease, spread it. We have those problems,” he said. “I caution all West Virginians – especially now those that are in the south of our state to take every possible precaution. This terrible killer is moving from the south and we see it and we’ve got to stay on our game.”

As of Monday, Aug. 3, 117 West Virginia residents have died from the virus. They had 6,854 positive cases as of Monday.

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