T-L File Photos Belmont County Junior Fair Queen Megan Garrison of Belmont did her best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 precautions during a reduced Belmont County Junior Fair in September. Many events and festivals were halted last summer due to the coronavirus.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — It has been one year — a year of seeing others in masks and through partitions, of staying away from friends and family, of constant hand washing and sanitizing, of disruptions to schooling, business and livelihoods, of isolation and loss — since COVID-19 arrived in Belmont County.

On March 13, 2020, Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul confirmed that two residents had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Since then, the job of monitoring the situation locally and enforcing state guidelines has fallen to him and his staff at the health department.

On Friday, Sproul recalled the early scramble and alert, the disturbing news and images from abroad and the knowledge that it was only a matter of time before the coronavirus reached the Buckeye State.

“This time last year was when it first started to come into Ohio. Information was very limited, the Chinese government was not being very forthcoming with a lot of information. The state and the federal government was dealing with an unknown virus. The guidance was always changing because they were trying to get new information out to the public.

“Some of the things we had to deal with early on was a limited supply of personal protective equipment. A lot of that was made over in China and that area of the world, so when we shut down a lot of the trade with those areas, our PPE dried up very quickly, because we’re not making it here in the U.S. A lot of our first responders and hospitals were all struggling to try to get PPE,” he said.

“Luckily within the county a lot of people stepped up — a lot of private businesses and companies that had PPE. Your veterinarians, your dentist’s office, your tattoo parlors. All people that use personal protective equipment in their normal daily operations got into their stock and actually shared with their EMS and providers to get them through and to keep them safe during the pandemic,” Sproul said.

The first local cases were diagnosed in the Rev. Dean Myers of the Harbor of Hope Assembly of God Church in St. Clairsville and his wife, Terri. They had attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., and became ill after returning to the Ohio Valley. While Terri recovered at home, Dean Myers had a harder time.

“I got much worse and ended up in the hospital, in ICU. The prognosis didn’t sound too good,” Myers said.

He commended the hospital staff for their work and said he experienced a divine vision while at his lowest point. Since then, he has continued to guide his flock with an appreciation of the dangers and fears of COVID-19.

“I knew it was real because it almost killed me,” he said. “Since that time, my wife and I just have tried to live by as much of the guidelines as we can. We don’t live in fear. We try to be careful.”

Myers noted the impact the illness has had on his community and said he continues to hope for a return to normalcy.

“Most people want to get back to normal as quickly as possible, but there are some people who are in high-risk categories and have got to be careful,” he said.

Upon announcing those first two cases, Sproul said they would not be the last. Many more were anticipated, due to Belmont County’s proximity to major cities and large airports and the presence of Interstate 70.

Sproul recalled the state-mandated lockdowns that aimed to control the spread of the virus so as not to overwhelm health care workers.

“There were lots of discussions of masks and the effectiveness of masks. There were lots of discussions of antivirals,” he said. “Without a vaccine at hand, it made for a very difficult time.”

Sproul said the work was further complicated by “quick moves” from the governor’s office, which left Sproul and his staff hurrying to catch up.

“We were finding things out at the 2 p.m. (press conferences) with the rest of Belmont County. Then we would receive a phone call immediately after … asking what it meant, and we hadn’t had time to sit down and go through what change he had made or suggestion he had made and how that would work in Belmont County.”

He said during the initial months of the outbreak, the virus seemed to be under control, with the public largely abiding by health orders.

“But then people quickly politicized it,” he said, noting people cited infringements on freedoms. “That was not the intent. The intent was to prevent the spread of this airborne virus. The majority of the people in the county understood and did the right thing. We had a few that didn’t. We had issues of businesses shutting down because employees were sick and quarantined.”

There was a notable spike in cases during the summer months, traced back to some students who traveled to beaches in the Carolinas and Florida and did not observe precautions. For a time, one major source of spread was Belmont Correctional Institution, which accounted for the lion’s share of infections and deaths at that point. The Ohio National Guard and Ohio State Highway Patrol were called in to help when the number of infected prison staff climbed.

On the other hand, Sproul said local schools did very well and were able to remain open locally most of the time, while many other centers of education closed or went predominantly to remote learning. Community spread accounted for the in-school infections, while precautions stopped the spread in classrooms.

“Our local schools really stepped up,” he said.

The vaccination process had its own complications. Once vaccines were developed and approved for use in the United States, the health department’s six phone lines were soon overwhelmed with thousands of callers requesting shots. Sproul also had to arrange a site for weekly vaccination clinics. For several weeks, the health department held drive-through clinics where older residents were vaccinated outdoors, often in cold weather. Eventually the Ohio Valley Mall would open the former Sears store for regular indoor clinics.

Another issue arose when people registered to be vaccinated by the health department, but were later vaccinated elsewhere and did not cancel their prior registration, leaving Sproul’s staff scrambling to find people available for vaccinations on short notice.

Sproul commended the people of Belmont County for helping in the process.

“The biggest thing has been the local help,” he said. Organizations such as Rotary clubs and libraries assisted in calling people to schedule vaccinations. Retired and working nurses helped conduct the clinics.

“The local community taking care of the local community has been great,” he said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to put on these large clinics.”

Vaccines are now being received in greater numbers, with PPE available.

“One of the things that concerns me is the vast majority of (PPE) still show that they’re coming from again China and other parts of the Asian area. … If this would pop up again or another similar outbreak in that area, we would be in another limited spot of PPE. I would hope that the government looks at that and begins to produce it in the U.S. for our own security.

“This coronavirus may not go away. It may be something we have to deal with, just like we deal with the flu,” he said.

Sproul said the state’s online registration system is now live at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov, and a link to information about weekly clinics is on the health department’s website at belmontcountyhealth.com.

Sproul’s office will be receiving 1,000 doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine next week. Also next week, adult school staff will receive their second doses. About 29 days ago, more than 1,000 school employees were vaccinated.

“We’re doing a lot of planning and making sure we have a lot of people to accomplish their goal,” he said.

Since those first two cases were diagnosed a year ago, a total of 5,415 cases have been confirmed in Belmont County. There are now 193 people in isolation at home with active cases, and 65 residents are hospitalized with the illness. Sproul said 5,056 people who contracted COVID-19 have recovered, but 101 people have died after contracting the virus.

Vaccines and other precautions have case numbers falling across the region and the state. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has set a goal of lifting all health restrictions once Ohio’s average is rate of infection is 50 cases per 100,000 people.