Roberts: Despite positive signs, COVID situation remains serious

TYLER — NET Health’s George Roberts says we may have plateaued in the current COVID surge — but some new figures put that in a different perspective. Roberts says his region has now seen 115,000 positive cases since the pandemic began — and 20 per cent of those occurred this past month. Roberts also says the vaccination numbers are still not high enough. He tells us roughly 55 per cent of Smith County residents have received one shot, 49 per cent are fully vaccinated — and a mere 20 per cent or so have been boosted.

Roberts points out that NET Health doesn’t even log positive tests that were done at home — adding that some 90-plus per cent of COVID patients in area hospitals are not vaccinated, similar to a figure we’ve been hearing for awhile now. The entire area remains in the substantial spread category, though Smith and Gregg Counties’ spread figures have dropped. For more information on COVID-19 in East Texas, click here.