CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice unveiled a multi-week plan Monday to safely reopen West Virginia’s economy as coronavirus cases in the state trend downward.

Speaking during his daily coronavirus briefing from the Capitol Monday, Justice released a plan, titled “West Virginia Strong: The Comeback.”

“That’s exactly where we want to go,” Justice said. “I present to you the next leg forward.”

The plan, which lays out a roadmap covering the next six weeks, creates a way for some businesses to start preparing to reopen while maintaining social distancing guidelines and using personal protection equipment, such as masks.

According to the plan, opening criteria include the state having three consecutive days where the percentage of positive cases compared to the total number of tests remains below 3 percent. West Virginia’s cases fell below 3 percent for the first time Monday to 2.5 percent. Justice stressed that the plan would allow certain businesses to reopen, but does not require businesses to reopen if they believe it is not safe.

“If we drop below that 3 percent level, we’re going to begin our comeback in West Virginia,” Justice said. ”

According to data from the Department of Health and Human Resources, positive coronavirus cases have trended downward from a peak of 71 new cases on April 8. The total number of positive cases as of Monday morning was 1,063. As of Friday, of the 1,044 cases at that time, 557 cases were considered active. An additional 457 cases are considered recovered, which includes people released from the hospital of people who have gone seven days without symptoms or fever.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state coronavirus czar and vice president and executive dean for health sciences at West Virginia University, said the sustained decreases in positive cases over the last two weeks and decreased risk of spread are guideposts when developing the re-opening strategy.

“I fully endorse the governor’s decision to move back to reopening,” Marsh said. “As we know, this is a pandemic. The virus is still around. We believe…West Virginia has done a tremendous job doing all the right things to slow the trend of the virus growth, avoiding the surge and flattening the curve.”

For week one, which started Monday, Hospitals can re-start elective procedures once they receive approval from Health and Human Resources. Outpatient health care — such as primary care, dentistry, physical/occupational therapy and psychological/mental health services — can restart once they work with their boards and associations to develop criteria. Daycares can also reopen after staff is tested for coronavirus.

In week two, which could start as soon as Monday, businesses with less than 25 employees can reopen. Professional services, such as hair and nail salons, barbers, and dog grooming can re-open, as well as outdoor dining at restaurants. Churches and places of worship can also reopen for in-person services, though they are encouraged to have attendees spaced for social distancing. All these facilities are to maintain social distancing, sanitization and face masks.

After week three, other businesses or facilities could be allowed to reopen, such as office and government buildings, specialty retail stores, parks and facilities at parks (public restrooms, shelters, etc.), gyms and fitness centers, dine-in restaurants, hotels, casinos, spas and massage parlors and remaining small businesses. Justice said any announcements about the reopening of such facilities would be made one week prior to give those businesses time to prepare, with guidance released in advance. The reopening plan could also be changed and modified.

The plan was developed with health officials and recommendations from legislative leadership. Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, praised Justice’s reopening plan in a joint statement Monday.

“We join Gov. Justice in his goal to reopen the West Virginia economy as quickly as possible while respecting the need to maintain necessary health and safety protocols,” Carmichael and Hanshaw said. “We support the Governor’s desire to get our businesses open and our economy moving again. Governor Justice correctly remarked last week that it is critical to our State to get workers back on the job and business owners back to doing business, all as quickly as possible.”

As of now, there is no timeline for re-opening of entertainment venues, such as movie theaters, sporting events, and concerts, as well as gatherings of 25 people or larger. There is also no timeline for allowing visitations at nursing homes. Testing of nursing home residents and staff continues with more than 80 percent of testing completed, which should be wrapped up by the end of the week state officials said.

According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, there are 284 positive cases in state nursing homes out of 28,000 residents and staff. Of that number, 163 residents have tested positive and 121 staff members have COVID-19. The largest number of cases was at the Eldercare nursing home in Jackson County with 67 residents and 32 staff members testing positive. Jackson County also has the largest number of coronavirus-related deaths at 11, nearly one-third of all deaths in the state.

All throughout, Justice said the state would continue to increase testing capacity and testing at-risk populations, increase the capacity of hospitals to handle possible surges of cases, add to the state’s supply of personal protective equipment, and ramp up contact tracing capabilities.

The reopening could be stopped or reversed if there is an unexpected increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, if there are significant outbreaks of community spread transmission of the virus (not including cases at nursing homes), or if the cumulative percent of positive cases jumps above 3 percent.

In the meantime, Justice encouraged all West Virginians to continue social distance practices, wear face coverings in public in areas where social distancing is difficult, continue to follow the stay-at-home order until it is lifted, follow all county health department requirements and work from home if possible.

“Here is where West Virginians need to help one another and police yourselves and have to help in every way as we move forward to get you back to work and try to get you back to a lifestyle that is not restricting,” Justice said. “We cannot forever sit still. Too many bad things happen. We have to move forward.”