The Central Shenandoah Health District, which encompasses Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge, and Rockingham counties, hosted a virtual news conference on Thursday, Aug. 12, to update trends in the spread of COVID-19. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Dr. Laura Kornegay, director of the Central Shenandoah Health District, had two primary messages on Thursday: COVID-19 cases are on the rise again, and the best tool we have to defend ourselves is the vaccine.
LAURA KORNEGAY: With the current vaccination rates and transmission that's increasing in our area, we're definitely at the bottom of what appears to be another surge in COVID-19.
She said the key is to get vaccinated.
KORNEGAY: In the northwest region, which includes Central Shenandoah Health District, 98.49% of all cases occurring are in unvaccinated people. Most of the cases in vaccinated people tend to be mild and do not require urgent medical attention. So again, the vaccine is doing exactly what it should be doing.
The health district is also keeping tabs on the Delta variant of COVID-19, which Kornegay said currently accounts for about 12% of cases in the region.