The Roanoke area is seeing its smallest increases in COVID-19 cases since before Thanksgiving.
Doctor Cynthia Morrow with the Roanoke City-Alleghany Health District reported 468 new cases since last Tuesday.
Morrow said it’s clear that the area is on the other side of the second and to-date biggest surge. And she’s hopeful we can avoid a third major surge. "The critical thing is that we all do what we need to do to make sure that happens," Morrow said Tuesday. "And that means getting vaccinated when it’s your turn and continuing to follow community mitigation strategies."
Morrow said influenza pandemics usually include three waves, with the second being the biggest and most serious. While COVID-19 acts differently than influenza in some ways, Morrow said there are some similarities in the trends.
Morrow reported 441 active cases of COVID-19, down from 575 last Tuesday. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 declined to 49 and the number of outbreaks fell to 14 over the past week.
The district logged 13 additional deaths, however, bringing the total to 322.
