Health and Medicine
Carilion Clinic’s emergency department is seeing far fewer patients than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. And in many cases, it appears to be patients with serious health problems choosing to avoid care over COVID concerns. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
NEWS RELEASE: They say that every cloud has a silver lining. As we all huddle together under the shadow of COVID-19, one silver lining is notable: fewer people are rushing on the roads from place to place, so emergency departments (EDs) across the country have seen a significant decrease in major traumatic injuries.
Level 1 Trauma Centers like Carilion Clinic see any reduction in the need for trauma care as a good thing.
At the same time, however, EDs are also seeing a decrease in people coming in with the kinds of medical emergencies that can’t be treated properly anywhere else. And that has medical experts concerned. It makes sense that COVID-19 is affecting the number of traumatic injuries that we see. But heart attacks and stroke don’t decrease in challenging times.
Click here for Carilion’s full web page on this subject.
The Virginia Department of Health is getting straight-to-the-point with the new “COVID-19 and You” web page – catering in part to those who don’t want to wade through wordy FAQ’s about the coronavirus. More about a new feature that debuted on Monday from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
NEWS RELEASE: Radford University has announced that it will reopen for the Fall 2020 semester following the COVID-19 pandemic. The campus reopening will include full operations, such as on-campus housing and dining services, followed by face-to-face instruction beginning on August 24, 2020. The reopening process will begin on August 3, 2020. In order to support the reopening effort, each vice president will develop a phased approach for the return of employees based on divisional needs and priorities. This will require the return of select employees between the time in which Governor Northam’s temporary stay-at-home order is lifted and the campus reopening. Please note that all Summer Session courses will remain online.
According to numbers released this morning by VDH, there are more than 800 new COVID-19 cases bringing the statewide total to more than 14 thousand. Since yesterday there have been 34 more coronavirus related deaths increasing the overall total to 492. Officials are also reporting less than 100 new hospitalizations related to COVID-19.
Gov. Ralph Northam
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday he is open to the idea of opening businesses in southwest Virginia before the rest of the state as he weighs when coronavirus restrictions can be lifted. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Northam said at a press conference that the situation in the border city of Bristol illustrates why a regional approach might be necessary.
Bristol, a city that sits on both sides of the Virginia-Tennessee border, now faces a situation where restaurants on the Tennessee side of the border can provide dine-in services to patrons, while those on the Virginia side cannot.
“To try to be consistent, is it really fair for Tennessee’s businesses to be open and Virginia’s not to be?” Northam asked. “I’m open-minded to all of that. I would say, ‘Stay tuned.’”
Northam faced increasingly skeptical questions at Monday’s press conference about his justification for continuing his executive orders closing nonessential businesses and requiring Virginians to stay at home, particularly as other Southern states are beginning to ease restrictions.
Northam said he’s trying to be guided by the science, but he acknowledged Monday that the science is in a state of flux. One computer model, for instance, suggests that Virginia may have reached its peak of COVID-19 cases. Another model, prepared by the University of Virginia, suggests that keeping stay-at-home restrictions in place through the duration of Northam’s current order of June 10 will only delay an inevitable surge of cases, and result in a sharp peak of cases in August.
“It’s not a perfect science and I would be the first as a scientist to agree with that,” said Northam, a physician. “They call this a novel COVID-19, novel meaning new to the world. So there a lot of things that we don’t know about the virus that we’d like to know.”
Also Monday, Northam said he worked with the governors in Maryland and Delaware to request federal help to deal with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases connected to poultry plants on the Delmarva peninsula. He said workers from the federal Centers for Disease Control arrived in Virginia on Monday. Teams include epidemiologists, contact trace workers and translators who speak Haitian Creole, a language commonly used among the region’s poultry workers.
“The poultry economy on the Delmarva peninsula is so interconnected that a coordinated approach is critical,” Northam said.
According to numbers released this morning by VDH, there are more than 560 new cases of coronavirus statewide, bringing the overall total to more than 13,000. Over the same 24-hour period, there were 10 more COVID-19 related deaths. Data shows more than 80,000 people in Virginia have been tested.
Posted on April 26, 2020: here are nearly 13,000 total COVID-19 cases across Virginia — 12,970 to be exact as of the latest data released today. This comes as the number of people tested for coronavirus has reached 76,118. Those numbers show 17% of those tested have had COVID-19. It also shows that 2.6% of people confirmed positive for coronavirus have been or are in the hospital.
Posted on April 25, 2020: The latest numbers released by the Virginia Department of Health this morning show 26 more deaths across Virginia. The case numbers in the state have risen to 12,366.
Posted on April 24, 2020: The latest Virginia Department of Health information released this morning shows 38 more deaths over a 24-hour span, bringing the statewide death toll to 410. The data shows just over 69,000 Virginians have been tested, of those 1,837 have been or are in the hospital.
Posted on April 23, 2020: The number of daily reported cases of COVID-19 in Virginia is still rising. As of Thursday morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 732 new cases in the latest 24-hour period, and that is the greatest one-day number so far. Governor Northam has said he will not ease business closures and stay-at-home orders until that number subsides over a two-week period.
The VDH reports 370 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and two more probable fatalities. With 10,998 cases statewide, that puts the mortality rate among confirmed cases at 3.4%. State officials have said all along they expect the actual number of cases to be greater than the confirmed number, so the actual mortality rate is likely to be lower. In the Roanoke Valley, there are three COVID-19 deaths reported in Botetourt County.
RICHFIELD LIVING STATEMENT: Richfield Living, a local leader in senior living and rehabilitation, was notified yesterday evening by the Virginia Department of Health that one resident has tested COVID positive in Richfield Recovery and Care Center long term care. The resident was transferred to the hospital last night based on symptoms. We are working with the Virginia Department of Health and following protocols to quarantine residents on the same unit with the COVID positive resident before that resident went to the hospital. We are also
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — The halt on clinical training for students looking to be nurse aides in Virginia has made it difficult for them to find jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The state froze the trainings in nursing homes earlier this month due to safety concerns. Terry Jones, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Nursing, told the Virginian Pilot there is now a dilemma between letting students participate in the clinical training or relaxing the standards for entry.
The first option might put students lives at risk, Jones said. The federal government chose the latter route and temporarily waived the requirements to employ nurse aides.
Jones said this method might result in the aides entering the facilities unequipped. It also creates more liability for the companies that hire them.
“They’re ready to go into the facility and work,” said Russell Smith, co-owner of the nursing aide training facility Tidewater Medical Training. “And they can’t because of all the restrictions people are putting in place, not realizing that this is counterproductive.”
He said his training facility has about 45 students that can’t get hired because of the halt on clinical trials. One of the students from the facility, Gregory Wilburn, said he found it “frustrating” that the state was not allowing him to do the training.
Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, said officials are looking into measure. “We are exploring unique ways to provide critical training while protecting the health and safety of our students and patients,” she said.
According to Virginia’s Health department, at least 92 nursing home facilities in the state have reported coronavirus outbreaks.
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Photo: LEAP
The Grandin Village Summer Farmers Market opens as scheduled tomorrow, but it will be different in some ways from past years, as seen in the photo to the left. Until further notice, the market will operate as drive-through only, allowing you to pick up pre-ordered products from each vendor.
NEWS RELEASE: [ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, April 24, 2020 –] While many things have changed over the past few weeks, Earth Day still marks the start of the season for the Grandin Village Farmers Market, which opens this Saturday, April 25. This year, however, the market will open as a drive-thru only market for customers to pick-up pre-ordered products from each market vendor.
To best protect our community of vendors and customers, LEAP (Local Environmental Agriculture Project) has created no-touch systems that allow customers to easily purchase and take home fresh, sustainably-grown local food. LEAP looks forward to providing the more traditional farmers market experience, but until then, the LEAP Online Marketplace keeps both the West End Farmers Market (Tuesday) and the Grandin Village Farmers Market (Saturday) open in a safe way.
For many, the start of the Grandin Village Farmers Market signals the start of the season of local bounty. This year, the opening also coincides with Virginia Farmers Market Week (April 27 through May 3). The Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) are encouraging Virginians to support the farmers markets offering curbside pick-up, as well as no-contact delivery.
“Many Virginia farmers markets are open for business as they have transitioned their operations to encourage social distancing and no-contact purchasing,” says Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh, VDACS Commissioner.
Like many businesses, local farmers have experienced significant disruptions to their business models. In spite of the loss of sales to restaurants, schools, and other outlets, many local farmers have seen a spike in household customer demand for fresh, local food. Farmers markets and their short supply chains are resilient and can shift to keep feeding the local community, despite global disruptions. In times of economic uncertainty, supporting locally-owned farm businesses keeps food dollars in our local community. Community members are integral to the continued health and resilience of farmers markets and local food producers, especially now. Thank you in advance for your shared commitment to community, farmers markets, and local food.
LEAP is committed to serving the community, especially with the increased need for food caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. Families and individuals in our community are struggling with food insecurity, many perhaps for the first time. LEAP strives to make good, healthy food accessible to everyone. As with all LEAP Farmers Markets, the LEAP Online Marketplace offers a 50% discount to customers who receive SNAP (formerly “food stamps”), Medicaid, or WIC (half the order by value must consist of fresh fruits and vegetables). So, for example, for every $1 a customer spends with their EBT card, they take home $2 worth of delicious, local food. To redeem your discount, simply contact LEAP directly at LOM@LEAPforLocalFood.org. To learn more about the Online Market visit LEAPforLocalFood.org/OnlineMarket and to start shopping visit LEAPforLocalFood.LulusLocalFood.com.
Due to the constantly evolving nature of Covid-19 and our community response, please monitor LEAP’s website or social media for updates, or reach out directly if you have time-sensitive questions or concerns.