Some grim milestones have been reached as COVID-19 cases continue to mount.
In the past week, health officials reported almost 1,000 new cases of the virus in the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. Alleghany County and Covington are part of the Alleghany Health District.
“We passed some really grim milestones in the last week,” Dr. Cynthia Morrow, the medical director of the two health districts, said Wednesday.
“Across the country, we are approaching 800,000 deaths. Across the state, 15,000 deaths are attributable to COVID-19, and in our district, we have passed 700 deaths. These are really grim statistics that remind us of how significant this pandemic continues to be,” Morrow said.
The cumulative death toll in the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts had reached 703 this week. Hospitalizations were also climbing with 87 people admitted with severe COVID-19 symptoms. Sixty-three represented new hospitalizations.
“It is challenging,” Morrow said. “It is frustrating. We are all so tired of this. But the numbers don’t lie and this pandemic continues to have a devastating impact.”
Vaccine numbers continue to be low among people under the age of 35. Approximately 50 percent of new cases are in that age group. Roughly 20 percent of cases are occurring in people under the age of 18.
“We continue to see the same trends we have been seeing,” Morrow said, while also noting that a wide majority of new cases and hospitalizations are occurring in people who have not been vaccinated.
And with the Christmas season in full swing, people are gathering indoors more.
Morrow is advising people who attend family gatherings to exercise caution.
“We need to attend these gatherings in a way that protects ourselves and our loved ones,” she said.
Morrow said people should continue to wear masks while indoors, maintain adequate social distance and wash their hands
frequently.
Health officials are also continuing to assess the new omicron strain of the virus, which is beginning to spread through the United States. The strain is highly contagious. Early indications are that its symptoms may be less severe, however.
“We don’t know what the omicron variant is going to do in respect to our case count. It’s going to impact us just as it has in other parts of the country and other places across the globe,” Morrow said.
Globally, more than 75 countries have reported confirmed cases of omicron. In the United States, 36 states have detected the variant. Meanwhile, delta is surging in many places, with hot spots in New England and the upper Midwest. The five states with the highest two-week rolling average of cases per 100,000 people are New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that early data suggests omicron is more transmissible than delta, with a doubling time of about two days.
Health officials called on Americans to get vaccinated, get their booster shots, wear masks indoors and get tested before traveling and before holiday gatherings.
“I really thought we would be in a different place with this virus this year and I was wrong,” Morrow said. “It just shows the power of this virus. People are going to have to be really smart and really safe.”
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