One big question during the coronavirus pandemic has been can a person be infected more than once?
Based on at least two cases in the Roanoke area, the answer appears to be yes.
At least two people in the Roanoke City-Alleghany Health District appear to have been infected twice.
Doctor Molly O’Dell said both patients caught COVID-19 and fully recovered. Then, more than 3 months later, they were tested again before a medical procedure and came back positive. They weren’t showing any symptoms when the reinfection was discovered.
O’Dell says reinfection is not common but it has been seen in other places as well. "It’s just another example of why we need to stay vigilant about our behaviors with social distancing and face coverings and hygiene," O'Dell said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "There's more we don't know about this organism than we know."
Roanoke-area Cases Slowing Down
COVID-19 cases in the Roanoke area are still going up, but the curve is not as steep as the last few weeks.
O’Dell said there are 264 active cases in the health district that covers the Roanoke Valley and parts of the Alleghany Highlands, as of Tuesday morning. 26 people are hospitalized, about the same number as last week. Most of the recent cases can be traced and are contacts or family members of other known cases, according to O'Dell.
More than half of the COVID-19 positive individuals in the City of Roanoke identify as Hispanic. That's much higher than the city's Hispanic population, according to population estimates. About 20% of the cases in the surrounding localities of Salem, Roanoke County, Botetourt County, Craig County and Alleghany County identify as Hispanic. That's still higher than the region's Hispanic population, though down a bit from a few weeks ago.
O’Dell said there has been a slow-down in large-scale, commercial testing operations. Sometimes the wait is as long as 14 days. That’s a problem for facilities like nursing homes trying to test large numbers of residents and employees. "It does impact, particularly if there’s a positive and you want to know all the contacts, it does impact the effectiveness of the disease investigation."
O’Dell said tests run by the health department, which are processed by the state lab in Richmond or by a Virginia Tech lab, are still coming back quickly.
