Health and Medicine
(From Carilion Clinic) To help reduce the risk of COVID-19, Carilion Clinic is implementing system-wide hospital visitation restrictions to keep patients and employees safe. Effective Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 7 a.m., Carilion will update its visitation level for all hospitals to red. No visitors will be permitted with few exceptions.
Visitation is assessed on a weekly basis based on community positivity rate, spread of COVID-19, and mask compliance. Visitors play an important role in patient experience, and Carilion asks that the community do its part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing. Most importantly, get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
The Roanoke County School Board voted in a special session today to rescind a motion just passed on Tuesday – to make mask wearing in the county public school system optional. Right now it is a state law – at least until Glenn Youngkin takes office on January 15th. The school board was advised it could be in legal jeopardy by rescinding the mandatory mask requirement before – and if – SB 1303 is struck down by the new Youngkin administration,as promised by the incoming governor during his campaign for office. Brent Hudson represents the Catawba District:
State health officials say at a time when demand for COVID tests remains high — and supplies remain low — there is one place most people should NOT go to be tested. They ask and urge you to avoid going to emergency rooms unless you are seriously ill or face some other medical emergency. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Local health department officials urge schools to continue practicing several layers of precautions as classes resume. It comes at a time of record community COVID transmission in the region. Those recommendations include indoor masking, physical distancing whenever possible, testing anyone who is sick or has had close contact to someone with COVID, contact tracing and quarantine as needed. There are no health department calls to return to remote learning.
NEWS RELEASE: (ROANOKE, Va.) – School officials and public health officials share a strong commitment to keeping children in school. And we need to do this while ensuring that K-12 school staff, administrators, and the children that they serve are able to work and learn in settings that minimize the risks to their health.
We are currently at record high community transmission rates in the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD). The greater the community level of transmission is, the greater the risk of transmission within school settings if we compromise on the mitigation strategies that we know work.
Vaccination remains the best way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. All people over the age of five years old are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, and obtain booster shots once they are eligible to receive them.
Furthermore, RCAHD also strongly encourages all school boards to continue to protect our school staff and our children by employing a multi-layered approach to COVID-19 until our community transmission rates decline significantly from current numbers. This layered approach is currently required for a very good reason: it works.
In addition to vaccination, the multi-layered approach to decrease the risk of transmission of COVID-19 within school settings includes:
· Physical distancing, recognizing that six-foot distancing may not always be practical in all situations.
· Testing of individuals who are sick or who have close contact to someone who has COVID. We recognize that this is a challenge as testing supplies are currently in extremely high demand.
· Contact tracing, isolation and quarantine are additional tools to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“While all these layers are important in managing the current Omicron surge, I need to stress the importance of maintaining universal indoor masking in our schools. Masking is currently required and should stay in place until our levels of community transmission significantly decrease. Now is not the time to experiment with our teachers’ and our children’s health,” said Cynthia Morrow, RCAHD health director.
State health officials say they’re having as much trouble as anyone finding those rapid antigen COVID tests, and until supplies become more widely available, they urge you to consider another route. The Virginia Department of Health ordered lots of the rapid tests weeks and even months ago for use in high-risk centers like prisons, nursing homes and homeless shelters. Deputy Health Commissioner Doctor Laurie Forlano says they’re still waiting for many of them to arrive. In the meantime, if you may need testing, she suggests taking a PCR test when possible; do so when you have COVID symptoms or three to five days after contact with someone with COVID — then self-quarantine until the results come back. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
From Carilion Clinic: To help reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19, Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital (CFMH) is implementing additional visitation restrictions to keep patients and employees safe.
Effective Friday, Dec. 31 at 7 a.m., the facility will update its visitation level to red. No visitors will be permitted with the following exceptions:
Inpatient: Patients with physical limitations or cognitive impairments, as indicated by the need for a 1:1 sitter, may have one designated visitor. Two designated visitors will be permitted for pediatric patients (visitors must be family members and 18 or older). One designated visitor for adult trauma patients. High-risk immunocompromised patients may have restricted visitation on a cases-by-case basis as determined by clinical team.Visitation for end-of-life patients will be allowed and coordinated by staff and administration.
Outpatient: No visitors, unless staff determine special assistance is required, or physician has asked the patient to bring a responsible adult.One designated visitor will be permitted for outpatient pediatric patients (visitor must be a parent or legal guardian). Care teams continue to encourage visitors to remain connected to their loved ones through virtual means, including Skype, FaceTime, and/or phone. While visitation is limited, there is no disruption to regular services for patients.
Currently, CFMH is the only Carilion facility making this change. Each Carilion hospital is evaluating visitation on a weekly basis based on its own community’s positivity rate, spread of COVID-19, and mask compliance. This was not a decision that CFMH leaders made lightly. Based on the current data, however, it’s the best decision to protect patients, visitors, and staff.
Visitors play an important role in patient experience, and Carilion asks that the community do its part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing. Most importantly, get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
from Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts: Tuesday night’s testing event at the Salem Civic Center provided evidence of the unprecedented demand for testing. Over 200 people were tested at the event and unfortunately, demand exceeded our supply.
Given this demand, the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD) will have a limited supply of free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen at-home test kits for first-come, first-served distribution on Thursday, December 30, 2021 beginning at 11a.m. at the Salem Civic Center. Due to increased demand, test kits are expected to be out of stock very quickly.
The approximately 300 test kits are intended to be used for individuals who are seeking testing because they either have symptoms or know they were exposed to a positive case within the previous five days. Individuals will be asked to self-attest that they meet these criteria for testing.
Individuals must be present to receive a test kit. Only one test kit will be distributed per person who meets the criteria while supplies last. Users will need a smartphone in order to receive results.
As COVID continues to spread in our communities, it is critical that we reserve our hospital emergency rooms, urgent care centers and rescue squads for medical emergencies only. Using these resources unnecessarily can prevent people who are ill or injured from getting the medical care they need. Please contact your health provider or visit the Virginia Department of Health’s website to find a public testing site near you.
For questions about COVID-19 testing or a list of testing locations, visit the VDH website or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Anyone still needing a COVID-19 vaccine is encouraged to visit www.vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1). English- and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Translation services also are available in more than 100 languages.
# # #
Officials are not advising against holiday gatherings like in recent years because of COVID-19, but the Virginia department of health is issuing guidance for those gatherings to prevent spreading the COVID-19. WFIR’s Caroline Moore with the story: