Roberts: vaccination still the key to fighting COVID-19

TYLER — As COVID-19 numbers continue on the rise in East Texas, NET Health’s George Roberts continues to sound a familiar call — get vaccinated. He points out that his agency and a number of other locations have the vaccine readily available. Roberts says there’s been a slight uptick in vaccinations in the area, but the numbers remain low. He says a high spike in new cases last week was largely due to delayed reporting — but stresses that the problem remains serious. Roberts also strongly recommends staying home when sick, masking up, hand washing, and social distancing, even if those practices are not required.

Additionally, Roberts notes that more patients are going to area hospitals, which he says are struggling with the increased caseload. Visitation remains an issue too. According to our news partner KETK, UT Health said they will continue to be cautious with their visitor policy and plan on changing their guidelines soon. CHRISTUS Health has not modified their rules, but they encourage patients to only have one visitor at a time as well as COVID screening. Longview Regional Medical Center has already instituted stricter visitation policies.