Community Update - Week of January 3rd, 2022 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts The past two years have been a challenge for all of us, and even as we welcome a new year, the latest headlines reflect this stubbornly persistent pandemic. We continue to find ourselves in difficult... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of December 13th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts As we celebrate the season with friends and family this year, we are once again seeing this tenacious virus, COVID-19, making new headlines. Last week, the first detected case of the Omicron variant in Virginia... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of November 1st, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts Last week the Food and Drug Administration approved a COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11years old. At the time of writing this column, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACP) will meet soon to consider... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of October 11th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts Over the past few months, you have likely heard the term “breakthrough case” used a lot and may have some questions about what this “breakthrough” actually means. At the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts,... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of September 18th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts Fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts are currently in the midst of a surge of cases of COVID-19. In June, we saw a low for the year... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of August 30th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts As we continue to learn more about COVID-19, its variants, and vaccine effectiveness, more and more information is being shared in the media, in discussions with our friends and family, at our workplaces, at our... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of August 9th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts Nationally, the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant is causing a surge in cases of COVID19. Virginia cases have increased nearly ten times from our mid-June numbers. The majority of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the U.S.,... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of July 19th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts I look forward to the day when the message of these community updates will not be COVIDcentered, but unfortunately today is not that day. We have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the Roanoke... Continue reading→

Community Update - Week of June 28th, 2021 By: Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts When the Governor declared a State of Emergency in March 2020 to address the looming threat of an emerging pandemic, we could not have known the extent to which the pandemic would transform our lives.... Continue reading→