Health and Medicine
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.
The Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts will partner with the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center next Wednesday for an on-site COVID vaccination clinic on-site at the Living Center’s Williamson Road location. That special vaccine clinic on May 5 runs from 10-am until 2pm. Karen Karney is the executive director there:
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:
- 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.
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.
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:
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.