BUCKHANNON – The Upshur County Commission on Thursday delayed reopening the Upshur County Courthouse until Tuesday, May 26.

During Thursday’s May 14 Upshur County Commission meeting held via teleconference, the commission delayed the reopening of the courthouse until May 26 and outlined new guidelines for the public and employees. The opening will occur on a Tuesday since May 25 is Memorial Day and the courthouse is closed for the holiday.

Upshur County administrator Carrie Wallace laid out the new rules for entering the courthouse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Other changes include that employees and the public will be required to enter through the front doors of the courthouse or the annex and upon arrival, court security officers will open the doors at 7:30 a.m. for employees and that will entail both the employees and the public going through the screening procedure of temperature checks and other following questions I’m going to review per the DHHR guidelines,” Wallace said.

The follow-up questions will include asking if a person has any of the following symptoms: a fever of 100.4 Fahrenheit or higher or have a sense of having a fever; a new cough that you cannot attribute to another health condition; new shortness of breath that you cannot attribute to another health condition; new sore throat that you cannot attribute to another health condition; or new muscle aches that you cannot attribute to another health condition or that have been caused by a specific activity, Wallace explained.

“If an employee or member of the public [answers] yes to any of those questions, entry will not be permitted, and court security officers will recommend that they contact their physician,” Wallace said.

Wallace said these questions will be posted in large font, on bright colored paper in a few places in both foyers for people to check.

“The court security officers can direct a member of the public to read that list, and they can tell them if they’re experiencing any of those symptoms, so the court security officers will not have to continually read that list, and we also want to prevent the list from being passed from one member of the public to the other because that can spread the virus,” Wallace said.

Wallace also announced the campgrounds at the James W. Curry Park will remain closed until the governor’s restrictions regarding playground pavilions and restrooms are lifted.

“We will still recommend that individuals should handle any business they can via telephone, email or online, and we’ll outline the fact that if the public or employees are experiencing any of those symptoms, by all means, they should not be coming to the courthouse or any other public facility,” Wallace said.