CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says his coronavirus reopening plan is based on two things: science and math.

But
for a second consecutive day Tuesday, the Republican governor didn’t
show his work on the reason behind loosening testing benchmarks as the
state barrels toward lifting its virus restrictions — even as he made
the case for openness.

“I
really truly believe that if you’re completely transparent and you see
what needs to be done you’ll fix it greatly yourself,” Justice said.

The Justice administration plan to reopen hinges on having the state’s positive testing rate below 3% for three days, reversing a previous goal to have cases decline for two straight weeks.

Clay
Marsh, a high-ranking West Virginia University health official leading
the state’s virus response, has previously endorsed a two-week plan, as
has the White House, which included the metric in a reopening road map
distributed to governors. He later sought to clarify the switch at the
governor’s daily news conference and on social media, saying the state
has enough downward trend lines to adjust its criteria.

“These
sort of instructions are not rigid, linear sort of requirements, they
are advisements and guidelines for us to decide to open,” he said.

West
Virginia has seen no significant decline in the number of daily
positive cases, according to state health data. Thirty-eight people have
died in the state, with 12 fatalities recorded in the last week.
Officials have also not given specific benchmarks on testing capacity or
protective equipment they want to meet as part of the reopening plan.

The
lifting of restrictions is already underway, with hospitals moving to
perform elective surgeries and testing of day care staff. If the state
remains under the positive case rate threshold, state boards could allow
dentists, physical therapists and other outpatient services to resume
later this week.

The governor on Tuesday also moved to clear up some confusion on when exactly each component of his six week plan would go into effect, though his message left room for confusion.

“We
tracked a day on Monday — yay, yay — we’re tracking a day today and
we’re tracking a day tomorrow. If that be the case then on Thursday,
well on Wednesday evening at 5 o’clock, we’ll have our three days. And
at that point in time then week two will commence on Monday. It will not
commence a week from Thursday. It will commence next Monday, a week
from yesterday, provided we have three days in this week, which are
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, that get us under three percent.”

Small
businesses, barbers, outdoor dining at restaurants and church and
funeral services could open next Monday under the governor’s plan.
Offices, hotels, casinos, restaurants and other remaining businesses
could open in the following weeks if the case rate criteria continues to
be met.

Further
instructions on social distancing and rules for the businesses will be
set in the coming weeks and Justice said the plan could be slowed or
stopped if there’s a jump in cases.

About 1,100 people have the virus after roughly 41,000 tests, according to the state health department.

For
most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such
as fever and cough that clear up within weeks. For some, especially
older adults and those with existing health problems, it can bring about
more severe illness and even death.

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