The number of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and active outbreaks continue to fall in the Roanoke area. But the region’s health director cautions that there is still substantial disease activity.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow said there were 400 new COVID-19 cases in the Roanoke City-Alleghany Health District over the past week. And she said it’s not yet time to relax prevention measures. "If we think back to the fall, if I had announced we had 400 cases, that would have been a big moment for us to say there’s a lot of disease activity."
The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 declined from 49 last week to 32 as of Monday. The number of active outbreaks fell by two to 12 this week. Morrow said she expects that number to drop further later this week.
The number of deaths in the district continues to grow, however. Sixteen additional deaths were reported over the past week, bringing the total to 338.
Morrow said the district is expecting about 3,700 additional vaccine doses sent directly to pharmacies each week. She added it's possible that vaccinations could be on track to be opened up to the general public in May. “If we continue to have this level of vaccine and if Johnson and Johnson comes on board relatively soon, as we expect it will, then I think that projection is realistic at the local level,” Morrow said.
More Work Needed to Overcome Vaccine Inequity
Health officials in the Roanoke area say they know there’s much more work to do to address health inequities related to COVID-19.
A panel told reporters Tuesday that some big steps have already been taken—like holding some neighborhood-based vaccination clinics and using city library staff and churches to coordinate appointments for people without access to the internet.
Carilion Clinic said it’s already changed the way it publicizes and plans vaccination clinics to make sure the effort reflects the broader community’s demographics.
Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell noted that the disparities existed before the pandemic. COVID-19 just put a spotlight on them. "The long game is that sustained partnership, much like we’re seeing now at the federal and state level, to address these real issues that exist within our communities prior to the pandemic and they’ll exist after the pandemic."
