By Matt de Simone – Contributing writer
Recently, Carilion’s Infection and Prevention team identified Botetourt County as a community where they wanted to emphasize COVID-19 safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Since March, Botetourt County has had over 200 confirmed cases. Since reopening over the last four months, many businesses in Botetourt have had to tighten restrictions in their stores and restaurants. While the county has worked diligently to enforce new limitations to better the community’s safety, Carilion physicians say that the community can do more.
As more information becomes available daily regarding new cases and preventative measures, Dr. Randal L. Swatzyna and Dr. Katherine Harris of Daleville Family Practice recently spoke about the current situation in Botetourt County.
One question on the minds of many in the area focuses on what local physicians see in recent case spikes within Botetourt and around the state. “Locally, we have seen a spike in cases,” Dr. Swatzyna explained. “We think that’s related to recent family travels, recent openings of local businesses and also folks getting together for summer gatherings.”
Dr. Swatzyna and his team encourage the community to continue practicing social distancing, hand-washing and wearing masks for what Dr. Swatzyna foresees as “months and months” of continued distancing. While many businesses are creating new norms, it doesn’t mean that social distancing procedures will slacken.
Local restaurants in Botetourt County require all guests to wear a mask while entering and exiting the restaurant. Wearing masks isn’t a “house rule” in place for only the guests’ safety; restaurant employees are equally at risk and continue to wear masks for their well being.
“After we had our first case in Botetourt, I think it started to hit home with people that this can happen not just in a big city like New York or Los Angeles,” Dr. Harris added. “We did see an uptick in people curious about their symptoms even if they were mild or unrelated to the current COVID symptoms. We recommend that people call with any symptoms to seek care as soon as possible because there are asymptomatic cases. Anything can be a symptom at this point, so always call your doctor’s office and see if you can get a virtual appointment or contact with someone to be screened or tested.”
Since March, Dr. Harris noted that recently more people seek outreach for care whether related to COVID or general check-ups due to previously canceled or delayed appointments caused by the pandemic.
When it comes to questioning why the state of Virginia hasn’t enforced stricter restrictions, that’s an answer that only the state government may provide. “As medical providers, we are not government officials,” Dr. Swatzyna explained. “We can’t say why Virginia or local regions are handling things differently than other areas of the country. What we can say is large social gatherings are still not recommended. Frequent hand-washing is very, very important. Following the previously stated precautions is still important.”
More importantly, as Dr. Swatzyna noted, the best group of people a person may contact is their local primary care practice. “The Carilion Clinic has taken this very seriously and we’ve imparted safety measures for any patient, visitor, or provider. All of us are having daily screenings at the front door. We do want to share with others that they shouldn’t delay care out fear of coming to the clinic. We’re making sure that we’re following our local and national infectious disease recommendations for keeping folks safe coming to visit us.”
To learn more about better prevention, the physicians encourage people to visit the websites for the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC): www.cdc.gov, and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH): www.vdh.virginia.gov.
