As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise, regional health systems in Southwest and Central Virginia have come together to share a public service announcement that urges people to take action.
In three PSAs, LewisGale Regional Health System, Sovah Health, Carilion Clinic, Centra and the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center partnered together to share the same three messages.
Those messages were: two years have passed and many are still unsure of when the pandemic will end; frontline workers are overwhelmed as COVID-19 cases surge and individuals need to take action by wearing their masks, getting vaccinated and getting their booster shots.
“We thought this would be over by now, but we are actually treating more patients now than ever before. It is exhausting both emotionally and physically,” said Daniel Lareaux, a resident physician at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, in one of the videos.
“All we’re asking is for people to do is to wear a decent mask, get your vaccine and follow up with the booster,” added Don Crook, a clinician at Carilion Clinic, in another video.
On Wednesday, Jan. 26, there were 11,126 new coronavirus cases reported in Virginia with 86,236 new cases in the last week. As for hospitalizations, Virginia has averaged 110 new hospitalizations each day.
Each video ended with the same statement: It doesn’t have to be this way.
Our regional health systems urged everyone to take the proper precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by social distancing, wearing a mask, getting the vaccine and getting their booster shot.
At this time, 68.7% of all Virginians are fully vaccinated.
See the full joint statement below:
Joint Statement by Jazmine Otey on Scribd
