Gov. Justice, Staff Test Negative For Coronavirus

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he and his staff tested negative for the coronavirus after a staffer in the Capitol building tested positive Friday morning. The attorney general’s office later said the employee believed to have the virus tested negative on Friday evening.

Justice said he was tested for the virus minutes before a noon news conference Friday, where he announced a record high of new cases. The state reported 540 confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours.

The employee who initially tested positive Friday morning works for the attorney general, said Curtis Johnson, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

But after testing staff and the individual again Friday evening, “all of our tests came back negative,” Johnson later told the AP.

“The office is taking appropriate precautions that include testing to ensure the safety of not only its employees, but all of those in the Capitol building and the surrounding community,” Johnson had said Friday afternoon after the positive test.

The governor’s office declined to say exactly how many people were tested and whether anyone will consider quarantining.