COVID numbers in the Roanoke Valley continue to trend up, mirrors National trend

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The latest update from the Roanoke Alleghany Health Districts shows an uptick in local COVID cases and significant levels of disease activity in the community.

Currently, the district is seeing nearly 900 additional cases in the last week. About 15% of those new cases are in children and roughly 50% are in people under the age of 35. Dr. Cynthia Morrow of the health districts says many of the vaccinations in the area are booster shots. She also says as far as scientists know, the vaccine offers good protection against the Omicron variant of the virus.

“The more disease there is our there, the more disease is spreading and so we certainly expect that this trajectory is going to continue in part because of the holiday season and people gathering over Thanksgiving and unknowingly transmitting it over those gatherings,” she explains.

Dr. Morrow is continuing to stress layered mitigation and vaccination as a way to help slow the increase in cases.

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