Volunteers resupply Appalachia housing facility residents

UPDATE:

With help from local companies, churches and organizations, Appalachia Fire Department has been delivering food and other supplies to residents of the Appalachian Towers public housing facility since a “precaution zone” was established there last Friday.

The department posted Tuesday on its Facebook page that personnel had delivered supplies, including food from Oak Grove Baptist Church and East Stone Gap Methodist Church, water from the federal prison staff in Lee County and soda from the Pepsi bottler in Norton.

This was a joint effort including United Methodist churches, the department said: Appalachia, Derby, Legion, East Stone Gap and the church’s Appalachian District.

Also involved were the Health Wagon and Wise County Social Services.

Further, the department thanked Joie Cantrell and her mother for providing pizza for each resident, along with thanking an anonymous donor.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Appalachian Towers building in downtown Appalachia is now within a “precaution zone” set up by town officials in response to recent positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Town Manager Fred Luntsford, Wise County Housing Authority Executive Director Monty L. Salyer and Wise County/Norton Commonwealth Attorney Chuck Slemp made the announcement in a joint statement released Friday morning.

At Luntsford’s request, Appalachia police established a barricade and police line perimeter around the public housing facility at 8 a.m., according to a press release.

The protective zone will be in place for 14 days or until the restrictions are lifted per the recommendation of the federal Centers for Disease Control and the director of the LENOWISCO Health District.

The housing authority notified all residents of the actions and is providing residents with food, drinks and medications, with help from the town and Wise County Emergency Management.

The release states that the town received a letter from health district Director Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell, stating that as of April 5, “all residents of the Appalachia Towers Building ‘were quarantined due to their risk of exposure to COVID-19 infection.’ These residents are requested to remain in their homes for their safety and the safety of others.”

Cantrell has noted in previous articles that the state health department does not publicly identify the geographic location of positive COVID-19 cases within the county.

Anyone who crosses the police lines and barricade zone without town authorization can be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor, according to the release.

“All that we have done up to this point and all that we will do in the future is for the safety and preservation of the health of all the residents of the town of Appalachia and Wise County,” Luntsford said in the release.

Salyer said: “COVID-19 is an uncharted territory with frightening results. We feel these temporary precautions are for the safety and well-being of all our residents at Appalachian Towers.”

“We all must do our part to prevent further spread of the virus,” Slemp said. “It is my hope that these measures will keep the community safe until the threat of COVID-19 community spread has passed.”