COVINGTON, VA – While most people were winding down for the night on Wednesday around midnight, Kelly Johnson was hard at work.
“Anyone who was affected, I want to get them here. And if that means staying open 24 hours to get everybody, then that’s what we’ll do,” Johnson said.
Johnson runs Healing Haven - a holistic wellness center in Covington.
She saw parent after parent on Facebook expressing concern about their children’s potential symptoms from carbon monoxide exposure at Covington Middle School.
“I know there’s so many worried parents and faculty. I just hope that everything gets resolved and we can get back to where we need to be with all this,” Johnson said.
Healing Haven offers a hyperbaric therapy chamber, designed to boost oxygen delivery to your body.
This machine provides pure oxygen in a sealed space with elevated air pressure.
It’s used to treat a wide range of ailments - one of which, is carbon monoxide toxicity.
While we were at Healing Haven, we got to see the treatment in action.
“So, we have it at 100% oxygen,” Johnson said.
We spoke with Dr. Cynthia Morrow with the Virginia Department of Health, who says they’re investigating any new reports.
”It’s completely understandable why people would be worried. What is critically important is that we understand that any elevated carboxyhemoglobin levels after Saturday cannot be attributed to the school,” Morrow said.
They say since the school closed Friday afternoon, any new carbon monoxide exposure reports since Sunday are likely unrelated to the middle school investigation.
Morrow says while symptoms from exposure can linger, the actual carbon monoxide in the blood will not.
“Symptoms if you have been exposed can last longer than the carboxyhemoglobin,” Morrow said.
The middle school is closed. Virtual learning begins Feb. 10 and will be in effect for at least two weeks while an environmental study is conducted.
