Dr. Keith Newby said Virginians need to remain cautious as mask mandates get dropped while COVID variants come and go.
NORFOLK, Va. — Editor’s Note: The above video is the COVID-19 trends for May 11, 2022.
Mask mandates are going back in place in several Northeast cities as COVID-19 cases creep back up. Norfolk cardiologist Dr. Keith Newby said it’s important to stay vigilant during the spread of the highly-transmissible B.A.2 variant.
“I think the caseloads are higher than what we’re seeing on the books because of home testing and things. I think it’s not being reported, ” Dr. Newby said. “I still run into a lot of patients who say, ‘I just got over COVID,’ or ‘I had COVID last week or last month,’ and then I look at the numbers and they’re so low and it tells me these are underreported cases.”
Dr. Newby said he understands why Churchland High School in Portsmouth decided to switch to virtual learning with this latest pop of COVID cases among staff, especially because there aren’t many mask mandates in place right now.
“COVID comes and goes quickly,” Dr. Newby explained. “It hits hard and hits fast, then it tends to dissipate away.”
Dr. Newby said we should all take this virus seriously still and not let our guards down.
“Mask up, make sure you’re vaccinated, all of your shots, including the booster, and if you’re a candidate for the second booster.” Dr. Newby advised. “You still got to be careful and there’s still a lot of unvaccinated people out here.”
Dr. Newby also said there are immunocompromised people who will always be high risk and there are patients who are experiencing “Long COVID Syndrome” following their infection. He also noted there are people walking around with asymptomatic COVID-19, and they can still spread it to anyone.
