Three years since first Covid-19 case in Virginia – WSLS 10
Roanoke, VA – March 7, 2020.
It was a United States before mask mandates and Covid vaccines. But on that day, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Virginia.
Fast forward three years to today, where Roanoke City and Alleghany Districts director Dr. Cynthia Morrow says we’ve come a long way.
“As we move forward, we can take the lessons learned from the past three years to protect our public’s health and move forward now that we have a lot more tools available to us,” Dr. Morrow said.
The health district says there have been 82,000 cases in the past three years, and more than 1,100 Covid related deaths.
Even with the devastating effects, Dr. Morrow says there are some positive things to take away from the pandemic.
“Our partnerships that we grew over the past three years has put us in a much better position to respond to other threats to the public’s health,” Dr. Morrow said.
Dr. Morrow also praised the quick actions of pharmaceutical companies in making vaccines.
“The vaccine was not the magic that we hoped for it to be, but that doesn’t change the awe that I have that we were able to pull together as a global community and create a vaccine that has drastically, drastically decreased the impact that this Covid pandemic could have had,” she said.
She says even though we are well past the height of the pandemic, some recommendations still apply.
“If you have COVID, you should stay home and isolate for a minimum of five days,” she said.
Dr. Morrow says she is also impressed that healthcare leaders have learned and adapted with the pandemic.
“This was a really great lesson for me to sit back and be humbled by mother nature, with the tenacity of this virus and its ability to change. And I think it’s important for us to not let our guard down,” she said.
