‘Go to Bob Evans and eat’: West Virginia governor breaks with other states on coronavirus guidance

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Gov. Jim Justice doesn’t think the people of West Virginia need to panic about the coronavirus just yet.

West Virginia is the only state in the union that has not yet reported any confirmed cases of COVID-19. While the rest of the country scrambles to shut down restaurants and bars, Justice had some different advice for his constituents.

“Go to the grocery stores. For crying out loud, go to the grocery stores. If you want to go to Bob Evans and eat, go to Bob Evans and eat,” he said Monday. “If we get to the point in time where we’ve got to close the grocery stores and drive a truck around and whatever and bring groceries to people and everything, we’ll do that.”

He added, “But, today, don’t have a mad rush on trying to buy all the toilet paper in the store.”

Justice noted that he had declared an emergency in the state despite no positive results out of the 80 coronavirus tests that had been completed. He admitted that the state likely has some infected people who have just not shown symptoms or been tested but maintained that most do not need to change their lives drastically.

“We can’t stop living,” the governor said. “We can’t stop living at this point in time.”

Several other states have done the opposite of Justice’s recommendation, with many opting to close schools, bars, and restaurants to the public to avoid the spread of the disease. Justice noted that he may consider such measures but said he doesn’t believe the state has reached that point.

All other states have reported at least one case of the coronavirus, including 51 cases in West Virginia’s neighboring state of Virginia. In total, the United States has more than 4,400 confirmed cases.

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