13
October
2020
|
16:49 PM
America/New_York

Regional CMO's on Covid-19: Stay Vigilant

Summary

A joint message from Dr. Patrice Weiss, chief medical officer at Carilion Clinic; Dr. Carnell Cooper, chief medical officer at LewisGale Regional Health System; and Dr. Thomas Martin, acting chief of staff at the Salem VA Health Care System:

Our region has seen a rise in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 over the last few weeks. We need your help to keep our families, friends and neighbors safe and healthy.

As our Virginia Department of Health colleagues have mentioned, we saw 26 outbreaks of COVID-19 last week in the Roanoke and Alleghany Health District. Parts of southwest Virginia continue to experience a high rate of transmission of the virus.

Now is not the time to let our guard down. We must remain vigilant. If we don’t, the virus will take advantage of our weariness.

From the very beginning, our health systems have been coordinating and collaborating to ensure the healthcare resources our community needs are available. Those efforts continue and we have capacity in our hospitals to handle those with acute cases of COVID-19. But with your help, we can reduce the number of patients who need that level of care.

We can stop the spread, but it will take all of us working together.

Wash your hands often. Watch your distance – Stay at least six feet apart. And wear your mask.