Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino/Unsplash
When you’re in an emergency situation, you can call a hotline such as 911, but when you need to be in the know about COVID-19 or are dealing with distress, grief or problems stemming from the pandemic, check out VA COPES, Virginia’s COVID-19 crisis counseling “warmline.”
The service has been up since May 2020 through the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and it has been approved by federal officials to continue through November, the state announced on Wednesday. Counselors with the service have fielded more than 3,000 calls as of mid-April. Call volume has increased 59% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the fourth quarter of 2020. The help line provides an outlet for people to discuss any behavioral health issues they are dealing with that are related to COVID.
Counselors can provide support and may make referrals. The free service is available at 877-349-6428. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays.
Take the Shot
Made your reservation for the COVID-19 vaccination yet?
Vaccine rollout continues across the commonwealth. More than 3 million Virginians have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and almost 2 million are fully vaccinated. That’s out of an overall estimated state population of more than 8.5 million. Sign up for a vaccine and learn more here.
The Virginia Department of Health Wednesday reported 1,400 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The weekly positivity rate in the state has hovered around 6% in recent days. There have been more than 640,000 COVID-19 cases in Virginia and more than 10,500 deaths. One Virginia woman apparently has died from possible complications after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. About six people (all younger women) out of some 6.8 million people who have received the J&J vaccine have reportedly experienced severe reactions that involved low blood platelet numbers in conjunction with a blood clot, a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met Wednesday to discuss the issue. Virginia is one of the states to halt administering the J&J vaccine until the issue is resolved. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are still available.
“This pause is reassuring in that it demonstrates that the systems that are in place to monitor vaccine safety are working,” Danny Avula, the state’s COVID vaccination coordinator and director of the Richmond and Henrico Health District, says in a release.
CAPSULES
Health and medicine news in brief
Brett Law
- TriCities ER in Prince George has earned designation as Acute Stroke Ready. The HCA facility is a department of John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell and serves residents around Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell. Certification is through the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and The Joint Commission. It means that the facility meets “standards to support better outcomes for stroke care,” according to a release.
- WellcomeMD has a new practitioner at its Richmond office, Dr. Brett Law. A former U.S. Navy physician, he’s a family medicine practitioner who previously served as an assistant clinical professor at the VCU School of Medicine, had a family and sports medicine practice in the city, and has practiced with Patient First Urgent Care Centers. WellcomeMD is a concierge medical practice with offices in Richmond; Charlotte and Mooresville, North Carolina; and in Naples, Florida.
- If love is all you need, some newborns in Richmond are getting a good start in life. Babies born at HCA Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals will be swaddled in LOVE Blankets, organic cotton muslin blankets from LOVEVOLVE featuring designs by its founder, the artist Sunny Stack Goode. “We are excited to provide our tiniest patients and their families with a beautiful, comforting blanket, while also giving back to the community,” says William Lunn, chief executive officer at Chippenham Hospital.
