Roberts comments on latest area COVID figures

TYLER — NET Health’s George Roberts remains pleased with COVID-19 trends in his survey area. He attributes recent high spread numbers in Van Zandt County to an “influx of data,” with figures dating to January — and says he expects that issue to be resolved soon. “Overall, things are…moving in a positive direction,” says Roberts. He notes that the hospital patient number is now down to 78 from the 87 reported Monday. But one thing hasn’t changed: Roberts still strongly encourages vaccinations, pointing to the continued wide availability of the shots. Roberts says the omicron BA-2 variant now makes up about 11.6 per cent of cases nationwide and some seven per cent in Texas — and isn’t creating any cause for alarm at this point, though officials continue to monitor it. For more information on COVID-19 in East Texas, click here.