PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are inching up again in Virginia and across the country.
The Virginia Department of Health reported nearly 2,000 cases Monday and more than 3,500 new cases Tuesday. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported 325 people were hospitalized in the commonwealth on Friday; on Tuesday, that number was 390.
Dr. Brooke Rossheim, a Virginia Department of Health specialist, could not tell us how many of those cases are breakthroughs, but did say they know they are happening.
Our WAVY Executive Producer, David Craft, is among those breakthrough cases.
“It feels like an uber flu plus a cold all rolled into one,” Craft said. He has been working from home as he works to kick the symptoms that put him in bed for an entire day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts we’ll see more hospitalizations in June. Typically, those numbers go up about two weeks after case numbers rise.
However, Rossheim cautions the future is anything but certain.
“So many times we have tried to predict the future with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and what we know is this is a tricky actor,” he said.
That’s why he insists we must remain vigilant.
“Complacency is what this virus wants — that’s how it survives,” he said.
His advice is to do what Craft did: get a test when you’re sick, stay home if you’re positive, and get those COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots.
“I suspect that if I didn’t [get vaccinated], I would be in much worse shape than I am now,” Craft said.