ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — The head of the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts says the number of new cases of COVID-19 infections has increased steeply in the last week.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow told WFXR News the districts saw an increase of 371 cases in the past week alone and of those cases 20 people were hospitalized.
Dr. Morrow went on to say that the vast majority of the people diagnosed with COVID-19 were not vaccinated with the vaccine, but about 20 percent of those diagnosed and hospitalized were fully vaccinated.
“What it means is we need to continue to look at all our data,” said Dr. Morrow. “Look at the science to determine what the overall effectiveness of this vaccine in the context of time elapsed since vaccinations have occurred and in the context of increasing case counts.”
According to the Virginia Department of Health, the weekly average of positivity rates for the Commonwealth is at 7.3 percent. This rate was reported on July 30. This is a 3.6 percent increase since Virginia started reported cases on March 16, 2020. You can look at the full report below:
Dr. Morrow says the incidents of deaths in people who contract the coronavirus after vaccination is much lower than for those who did not get it.
She also told WFXR News that in light of the recent CDC recommendations that even vaccinated people who live in areas of high COVID-19 activity may want to consider wearing face masks.