Health and Medicine

Rob Ruthenberg photo

Earlier today a groundbreaking was held for a new freestanding emergency room named Lewis Gale Medical Center Blue Hills ER located on West Ruritan Road down the 460 corridor towards Bonsack. This facility is similar to the one located on 419 next to Tanglewood Mall. HCA Health Market President Lance Jones emphasizes  that this will fill the need for quicker response times to treat certain health issues. The 10,000 square foot facility is targeted to be open by January of 2022.

 

Area restaurant owners say Governor Northam’s move re-opening bars to limited seating is a welcome step in the right direction, but some question why it the ban remained in place for so long. The order permitting a resumption of seating at the bar requires six-foot distancing, just like at tables. Owners we spoke to say the financial impact will be positive, but a greater impact might be psychological. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:

 

 

Governor Northam will loosen many COVID-19 restrictions in Virginia effective May 15th. They include greater numbers permitted at social gatherings, entertainment venues and sporting events. In addition, restaurants will again be permitted to sell alcohol after midnight, and they will no longer be required to close down between midnight and 5:00 am.
NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that sports and entertainment venues in Virginia may begin to operate with expanded capacity, and social gathering limits will increase beginning Saturday, May 15th. The announcement comes as vaccinations continue to rise in the Commonwealth, and more than half of all adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. All Virginians age 16 and older are now eligible to for the vaccine.
Governor Northam made the announcement in a new video message.
“It’s good news that half of all adults in Virginia have gotten a shot so far,” Governor Northam said. “Vaccination numbers are up, and our COVID-19 case numbers are substantially lower than they were earlier this year. So, we have been able to begin easing some mitigation measures. We took a few more targeted steps this week, and we will do more next month.”
“I’m optimistic that we will be able to take more steps in June. We are working to significantly ramp up vaccinations even further and aim to reduce capacity limits in June, hopefully all the way. But some things need to continue—we all need to keep wearing masks, social distancing, and encouraging each other to get a shot. It’s how we take care of one another.”
The Governor also reminded Virginians that getting vaccinated keeps communities safer, and allows expanded personal activities—for example, people who have been fully vaccinated do not have to quarantine after an exposure, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Commonwealth will continue to mandate mask-wearing and social distancing, even as commercial restrictions are further eased. Key changes in the Sixth Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two will go into effect in about three weeks and include:
  • Social gatherings: The maximum number of individuals permitted in a social gathering will increase to 100 people for indoor settings and 250 people for outdoor settings. Social gatherings are currently limited to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
  • Entertainment venues: Indoor entertainment and public amusement venues will be able to operate at 50 percent capacity or 1,000 people, up from 30 percent capacity or 500 people. Outdoor venues will be able to operate at 50 percent capacity—up from 30 percent—with no specific cap on the number of attendees.
  • Recreational sporting events: The number of spectators allowed at indoor recreational sporting events will increase from 100 to 250 spectators or 50 percent capacity, whichever is less. Outdoor recreational sporting events will increase from 500 to 1,000 people or 50 percent capacity, whichever is less.
  • Alcohol sales: Restaurants may return to selling alcohol after midnight, and dining room closures will no longer be required between midnight and 5:00 a.m.
The full text of Sixth Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two and Order of Public Health Emergency Nine is available here. Updated guidelines for specific sectors can be found here.
Earlier this week Governor Northam made minor changes to the existing mitigation measures, including increased accommodations for cross-country events, school-based fine arts performances, and expanded access to bar seating in restaurants with strict social distancing. These changes are reflected in the current Fifth Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two available here.
Visit virginia.gov/coronavirus/forwardvirginia for more information and answers to frequently asked questions.
Virginia has now administered more than 5.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and is currently giving almost 77,000 shots per day. Over 3.5 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, more than half of all adults in Virginia and more than 40 percent of the total population.
Virginians over the age of 16 can schedule an appointment for vaccination by visiting vaccinate.virginia.gov or calling 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1).

Image: Martin’s Downtown Facebook

Roanoke restaurant and bar owner Jason Martin says Governor Northam’s latest executive order will help improve the atmosphere at Virginia bars, and it will provide a financial boost to bartenders. Northam says seating is once again permitted at bars, but as with tables, there must be six-foot spacing. Jason Martin owns Martin’s Downtown and Sidecar, and says the ban on bar seating always puzzled him, but he will nonetheless happily take its limited restoration. Martin spoke with WFIR’s Evan Jones:

Updated weekly numbers for the Near Southwest Region, which includes Carilion, Centra, LewisGale, Sovah, and the Salem VA Medical Center as of today: there are 143 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 36 ICU patients and 8 people on ventilators. Last week 130 patients were hospitalized for COVID in the near Southwest Region. At the peak in January as many as 450 were in the hospital at one time fighting the coronavirus

The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, show 1 new coronavirus related death and 3 new hospitalizations in the Roanoke Valley. There are 26 new cases among Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt Counties in the latest 24-hour reporting period.State health officials report 12 new cases in Roanoke City, 8 new cases, 3 new hospitalizations, and 1 new death in Roanoke County, and 6 new cases in Botetourt County.

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A new report finds that Roanoke has some of the cleanest air among all metro areas in the country. But the American Lung Association says that is hardly true in all parts of the state. The association released its national “State of the Air” report overnight, and it gives the Roanoke region an “A” rating for ozone and particle matter pollution – more commonly called smog and soot. On both counts, it puts Roanoke among the 32 cleanest metro areas in the country. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:

Click here to read the full report

Dr. Cynthia Morrow/VDH-VT photo

There are mass vaccination clinics open to all adults through Thursday at the Berglund Center – and no worries about any supply shortage says Dr. Cynthia Morrow, director for the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts.  In fact Morrow reiterated today that with demand lessening in the Roanoke Valley those mass vaccination events could end soon – replaced by smaller, focused clinics in more rural parts of the health district.