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It only makes sense to fill out the censusas soon as possible.

Charley West says . . .

FINAL EDITION | $1.00 TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020 P.M. SHOWER 49 | 31 DETAILS, 8A

COVID-19 numbersNational

682,619 cases; 23,529 deaths

Global 2,019,320 cases; 119,483 deaths

West Virginia 16,748 tested; 633 positive; 16,115 negative; 9 deaths

INSIDEn WVU’s Towers quarantined 2An Sailor dies on aircraft carrier 2An Church makes masks at Easter 3An Editorial comment 4An WH denies Fauci firing rumors 6An Trump eyes US cuts for WHO 6An No swan songs for HS seniors 1Bn Satellites track food supplies 3Bn Car price collapse feared 3Bn Yes, your veterinarian is open 5Bn The problem with teeth 5Bn Warren: Give ‘essentials’ more 7B

By Phil KablerStaff writer

Modeling indicates coronavirus cases have peaked in West Virginia, but the state’s COVID-19 czar said 14 straight days of fewer positive tests are needed before social-dis-tancing and stay-at-home orders can be relaxed.

Among assumptions forming the basis for the modeling by the Uni-versity of Washington is distancing restrictions continuing through the end of May, said Dr. Clay Marsh, vice president of health sciences at West Virginia University and chief of the state’s coronavirus fight. Lifting restrictions too soon could restart the upward spiral in cases, he said.

“We need to pay attention and concentrate attention on the fact we can’t let our guard down,” Marsh said.

The number of positive cases statewide spiked from April 7 to April 10, dropped to 16 on April 11 and then increased to 33 on April 12, Gov. Jim Justice noted.

West Virginians have worked to

effectively “bend the curve” — par-lance from scientists referring to slowing the spread of the virus — and that has bought researchers time to develop an effective treat-ment or vaccination for COVID-19, Marsh said.

“I’m optimistic we’ll get back out

Marsh: It’s too soon to relax COVID-19 restrictions must remain in place, coronavirus czar says

WIND KNOCKS OUT TREES, POWERA

REPAIR crew assesses power lines along Childress Road, south of Charleston, early Monday after gusty winds toppled a tree that severed power lines and temporarily blocked traffic. Downed trees were reported across the Kanawha Valley Monday morning, leav-ing several hundred people without power.

The scene was repeated at dozens of sites across West Virginia, when gusts as high as 60 mph were recorded in the eastern highlands. More than 25,000 homes and businesses in the state served by Appalachian Power were left without electrical service for at least part of the day.

The National Weather Service predicts that mostly sunny skies will prevail in the Charleston area Tuesday morning, with clouds increas-ing during the afternoon and rain mixed with snow likely to take place early Wednesday. While no measurable snow is expected to fall on the state’s western lowlands by Wednesday morning, the eastern mountains could receive up to 3 inches of snow before noon Wednesday.

See how the storms slammed the South on Page 3A. KENNY KEMP | Gazette-Mail

By Erica WernerThe Washington Post

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca-lif., and Senate Minority Lead-er Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday they won’t agree to the Trump administration’s insistence on more money for small business loans unless their demands are met for additional funding for hospi-tals, state and local govern-ments and food stamp recipi-ents.

The Democrats also reject-ed suggestions from President Donald Trump that the coun-try could reopen quickly, say-ing “there is still not enough testing available to realistical-ly allow that to happen.”

The statement from Pelosi and Schumer early Monday followed a Saturday statement from congressional GOP lead-ers in which they rejected the Democrats’ demands.

The developments appeared to harden a stalemate on Cap-itol Hill over how or when the federal government will take further action to address the worsening economic effects of the coronavirus response, with millions of people newly un-employed and much com-merce at a virtual standstill as the United States confronts recession conditions.

Congress acted quickly last month to pass a $2 trillion rescue package for small and large businesses, individual Americans and the unem-ployed, as well as health care systems and local govern-ments. There is a recognition that more will need to be done — but not an agreement on how to structure new funding.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week requested

COVID-19 stalemate deepens Political machinations bring matter to a halt

JABIN BOTSFORD | The Washington Post

President Donald Trump speaks with members of the coronavi-rus task force during a briefing at the White House on Monday.

By Peter Whoriskey and Heather LongThe Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The names of businesses that collectively will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in coronavirus relief from the federal government might not be disclosed publicly, an omission that critics say could makes the massive spending program vul-nerable to fraud and fa-voritism.

The $2.2 trillion Cares Act approved by Presi-dent Donald Trump last month requires that the names of recipients of some forms of federal aid be published, but those requirements do not

extend to significant por-tions of the relief.

Some raise questions on aid transparencyInformation on small businesses might be reserved for Congress

Washington Post file photo

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell has the authority to withhold information about small firms receiving loans during the coronavirus.

SEE W.VA., 7A

SEE US, 7A

SEE STALEMATE, 7ABy Joe Severino Staff writer

Kanawha County has not seen a no-ticeable increase in domestic violence incidents since the beginning of the coro-navirus pandemic, officials and the Charleston YWCA say.

But that could soon change, depending on how much longer emergency stay-at-home orders are in place in the county, said Julie Haden, program director of the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program.

Over the weekend, law enforcement responded to 62 domestic violence or disturbance-related calls, according to Rick McElhaney, deputy director of oper-ations for Kanawha County Metro 911.

McElhaney said while that’s not an abnormally high volume of calls, it wasn’t a slow weekend. It’s usually considered above average when numbers of calls reach into the 70s for a weekend, he said. Likewise, an amount under 50 calls for a weekend is considered below average.

Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Ruther-ford said although other departments across the country are seeing an uptick in domestic violence calls, locally that

hasn’t been the case.“So far, we haven’t seen the spike in

domestic violence other parts of the coun-try have witnessed,” Rutherford said. “But there’s no guarantee we won’t.”

Calls to the YWCA domestic crisis line have decreased as well, Haden said, but the organization is attributing that to people not having a safe physical space in their homes to make those calls.

She said during the first two weeks of the emergency period, the organization noticed the decrease, but knew that some people who contact the YWCA regularly weren’t reaching out.

Kanawha sees no rise in abuse, but group fears that may change

“So far, we haven’t seen the

spike in domestic violence other

parts of the country have

witnessed, but there’s

no guarantee we won’t.”

MIKE RUTHERFORDKanawha County sheriff

SEE KANAWHA, 7A