Times Leader Staff Writer
CADIZ – Local health departments are doing more than battling COVID-19 as 2021 gets underway they are also offering tips on how residents can have a healthy and happy year.
There are many simple lifestyle changes a person can make to improve their overall health, Garen Rhome, administrator of the Harrison County Health Department, said.
Some of the health department’s main focuses this year are encouraging a healthier diet, exercise and a reduction in tobacco usage. Rhome said a healthy diet is not just about a person limiting their food intake; it is also about making healthier choices when it comes to the foods we eat.
Staff Writer
T-L Photo/ ROBERT A. DEFRANK
Applebee’s in St. Clairsville serves customers via carryout and drive-through only on Monday, but there have been no positive coronavirus cases there. The restaurant is being cleaned and sanitized as a precaution, according to local health officials. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has further outlined plans to vaccinate the first group of Ohio’s seniors, ages 80 and older. They will be able to search for nearby vaccination sites online.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE Coronavirus vaccinations are expected to begin next week for the first group of Ohio’s senior citizens, but even with them broken into age groups there likely will be only one dose for every four people who are eligible at first.
Staff Writer
ST. CLAIRSVILLE The Belmont County Health Department had expected to begin a second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations next week, but word was received Wednesday that those shots will be delayed for at least two weeks.
Residents eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B of the state’s rollout will have to wait longer than anticipated. Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul said Wednesday that Gov. Mike DeWine’s office informed him the move to Phase 1B will be delayed by two weeks or more.
During his Wednesday update to the Belmont County Board of Commissioners, Sproul said there has been a high demand for the shots statewide. He said his department continues to work through the groups in Phase 1A, which includes nursing home residents and staff, hospital workers and first responders. Sproul said vaccinations in that group are scheduled through this week and into the weekend.
Staff Writer
ST. CLAIRSVILLE Gov. Mike DeWine continues to ask Ohio nursing home workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We’ve made nursing homes a priority because over half our deaths in the state of Ohio have occurred in nursing homes. Our goal is to get as many people in nursing homes residents as well as those who work in nursing homes the opportunity to take the shot as quickly as they can,” DeWine said.
He said 61 percent of Ohio nursing homes have been visited by those who are administering vaccinations. Several staffers were vaccinated during the governor’s broadcast on Tuesday.
Staff Writer
T-L File Photo
Trooper Stephen Williams of the St. Clairsville post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol prepares to perform traffic enforcement with a radar gun. The patrol will be out in force on New Year’s Eve, which is Thursday, since traffic is expected to be high despite the coronavirus pandemic.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE The Ohio State Highway Patrol is warning people against drinking and driving on New Year’s Eve this Thursday.
Lt. Maurice Waddell said the COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly reduced traffic or changed driving habits. Waddell did not speculate if traffic volume or drinking and driving would change around the coming holiday or if people will choose to indulge after the lengthy pandemic and social distancing.