Roberts upbeat about COVID decline but still urges caution

TYLER — NET Health CEO George Roberts is upbeat about the continuing decline in COVID numbers in his survey area. Roberts says the virus appears to be bottoming out locally by all measures, including a hospital patient number now down to 94. But he cautions that things still aren’t back to normal yet. Roberts continues to urge vaccinations, saying we can’t be sure when there might be a resurgence. He says officials continue to monitor the recently discovered BA-2 omicron variant “very carefully,” though it doesn’t appear to be having any significant impact locally so far. Roberts says according to the CDC, BA-2 continues to account for some 3.9 per cent of COVID cases nationwide, as it did last week. For more information on COVID-19 in East Texas, click here.