COVID cases rise following holiday gatherings

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The number of COVID cases in the Roanoke region continues to climb.

During her virtual public health update Tuesday, the head of the Roanoke City Alleghany Health District said there have been almost 700 new cases in the last week. And those don’t include at-home tests.

Dr. Cynthia Morrow said flu and R-S-V cases seem to be declining. But she expects another leap in COVID cases throughout the first part of the month.

“All of us have major holidays gatherings over the last few weeks, whether it was Thanksgiving or Christmas, New Years,” she said. “And so I think most of us in pubic health are expecting COVID numbers to increase significantly in January, they have in the last two years. And I think that we should all brace ourselves for that.”

As always, Dr. Morrow continues to encourage vaccines and bivalent boosters to help protect everyone, especially those most vulnerable to serious disease.

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