After a long closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Museum of Science and Energy has re-opened.
AMSE re-opened at 9 a.m. Friday, May 21.
AMSE will be open to a limited number of visitors at a time, 50. Museum visitors will be asked to maintain an appropriate physical distance from others (the general guidance has been to maintain a distance of six feet or more, when possible, from people who live outside your home).
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Roane State Community College is ending its face mask requirement for people who are fully vaccinated. The college also ended its daily wellness screening requirement on campus on Monday.
The changes are updates to the college’s pandemic response plan as COVID-19 cases decline in the area, state, and nation.
“These changes follow updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued on May 13,” Roane State said in a press release. “Over the next few weeks, Roane State will be working to implement these new protocols within its response plan and communicate changes to the campus community.”
Until further notice, Roane State will maintain some of the preventive measures put in place during the pandemic in order to keep campuses as safe as possible. Protocols that will remain in place include:
[Read more…]Oak Ridge Schools and Anderson County Health Department will have a vaccine clinic for students 12 and older in June.
The vaccine clinic will be in Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School on June 4 and 25. It will feature the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with the first shot on Friday, June 4, and the second on Friday, June 25. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose.
The vaccine clinic will begin at 9 a.m. both days.
[Read more…]Mask use will continue in Oak Ridge Schools through the end of the school year, May 28, but will be optional for summer school.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers recommended the change during a special meeting Monday evening. The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved it unanimously.
Masks have been required in Oak Ridge Schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students can take off their masks outside. Visitors will be allowed starting in school in July.
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The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Anderson County has dropped to about six new cases per day, on average, and the positivity rate is now at less than 3 percent. Those are the lowest levels in months, since before the winter holiday peaks.
The last new hospitalization for COVID-19 in Anderson County was reported May 1. The last death due to COVID-19 was reported April 21, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
The average new number of cases per day peaked at more than 100 in December, when the positivity rate was up around 20 percent. The 20 percent positivity rate meant that roughly one of five COVID-19 tests each day returned, on average, a positive result.
After those December peaks, the average number of new cases and the average positivity rate both dropped in January and tapered down overall from February to May. (New hospitalizations also peaked in December, but deaths reached their highest monthly level in January.)
[Read more…]The MEDIC Regional Blood Center has issued an emergency appeal for blood donors.
Products donated through MEDIC help community members in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky.
MEDIC Regional Blood Center said it has an immediate, critical need for O positive, A positive, A negative, and B positive blood types. MEDIC said it has a low inventory of B negative blood type.
“There continues to be a regional blood shortage in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky region,” the emergency appeal said. “MEDIC’s O positive inventory level has been critical for weeks.”
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By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer
The radiology lab in the Coffey/McNally Building on Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus now has an official name: the Mary Alice and Wallace Casnelli Radiology Lab. A plaque on the wall outside the lab bears the couple’s names and was recently dedicated.
The Casnelli’s estate included a $250,000 endowment for the lab administered through a partnership of The Trust Company of Tennessee and Roane State Foundation, and it’s been “put to excellent use,†according to Dr. Julie Hall, director of the community college’s radiologic technology program.
The gift “made it possible for us to buy equipment for the lab that normally would be outside of our reach,†Hall said. It also will fund professional development options for radiologic technology staff, she said.
Each year, four students in the program are also awarded scholarships from the endowment.
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After peaking in December and January, the numbers of new COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations have fallen during the past three months in Anderson County.
The largest number of new COVID-19 cases, 2,524, was reported in Anderson County in December. The highest number of new hospitalizations, 43, was also reported in December. The highest number of deaths, 56, was reported in January. State officials have said holiday gatherings were at least partially to blame for the spikes after Thanksgiving.
Since January, though, the number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen almost in half each month—from 1,608 in January to 732 in February, then to 483 in March and 275 in April. That’s according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health.
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Roane State Community College, in partnership with the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, is planning a two-part vaccination clinic at its Oak Ridge Branch Campus for Roane State students and employees, a press release said.
The first clinic is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Eastern time, and it will provide the first dose of the Moderna vaccine to participants. Appointments are available for students and college employees by visiting roanestate.edu/vaccine. R numbers will be required to sign up, the press release said. Students and employees from any campus location are eligible.
The clinics will be held in a drive-through format. Participants should follow signs posted on campus, and they can stay inside their vehicles the entire time. A short waiting period after receiving the shot will be required for safety. Vehicles will park in a designated area during this time.
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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
ORAU was recently awarded a contract by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE) to provide technical communications support to the office and three COVID-19 award recipients.
ORAU will advise the development of awardee health communication plans and materials targeting limited English proficiency audiences, such as Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander populations, as well as help increase the communications capacity of OMHHE to respond to COVID-19 in these and other high-risk communities, a press release said. [Read more…]
Roane State Community College’s One Stop offices at the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses have now resumed in-person student services.
Success coaches were returning to all RSCC campuses this week on a mixed schedule, a press release said. When scheduling appointments with success coaches, students will be able to select from in-person and virtual meeting options.
One Stop staff at the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses moved to virtual operations earlier this year due to COVID-19 protocols. In-person One Stop services remained available at RSCC satellite campuses during this time, the press release said.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Friday said he has extended a limited state of emergency through April 28 and lifted state visitation restrictions on nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
The governor said he signed executive orders 77, 78, and 79.
“Our state’s COVID-19 numbers continue to improve thanks to efficient vaccine distribution and efforts to protect our most vulnerable citizens,†Lee said in a press release. “I have authorized continuation of a limited state of emergency through April 28 in order to keep critical healthcare deregulation in place and ensure continued federal funding compliance, and to lift state visitation restrictions on nursing home and long-term care facilities. To be very clear, my orders do not include any restriction on business. We will continue to focus on delivering vaccines to every corner of the state, ensuring kids get back in the classroom and building on our strong economic recovery.â€
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