HAMPTON ROADS — Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) announced on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, that although its emergency rooms (ER) and urgent care centers are busy, they are not at maximum capacity.
According to a statement from Elizabeth Earley of CHKD’s marketing and public relations department:
“CHKD’s emergency department and Urgent Care centers are extremely busy, but not at capacity. We are still accepting patients. We encourage patients to seek care through their pediatrician, urgent care, emergency department or 911 depending on the severity of the situation.
CHKD’s main hospital also is not at capacity. Both the emergency department and our urgent care centers are receiving an extremely high volume of patients, and our pediatric practices are handling a large number of phone calls from parents seeking information on COVID testing. We are working diligently to answer all calls and ask for patience as we work to provide the care and information parents and children need.
At the same time, we want to remind parents that children who have no symptoms or exposure do not need tests, and that emergency departments should be reserved for sick patients.
Children who have mild symptoms are best cared for by their primary care doctors, or, if they are unable to get an appointment, in an urgent care setting. Children who have exposures but no symptoms can be tested at alternative testing sites using this Virginia Department of Health link.
As always, if your child has a severe illness or has trouble breathing, call 911.”
Testing sites across Virginia continue to work hard to keep up with the demand for COVID-19 testing kits.
Parents are asked that if they have a child experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to contact their pediatrician, primary care provider, and to find a COVID-19 testing site. These can be found on the website for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) by clicking here.
This announcement coincides with the recent upward trend in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations within the Commonwealth.
For more resources regarding COVID-19, to schedule an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or booster, or learn more about this virus, please reference the following links:
- To find more information from CHKD regarding COVID-19, please visit its website or Facebook page.
- To learn more or to schedule an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, contact your healthcare provider or visit the website for Vaccinate Virginia.
- For more information regarding current vaccinations for COVID-19, visit the website for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- To find the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), click here.
- To see the current COVID-19 map courtesy of Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, click here.
