ROANOKE, Va. – Faster testing capabilities could be heading to Southwest Virginia in just a couple weeks, according to the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health District’s communicable disease control director.
Dr. Molly O'Dell said the numbers the health department is reporting are misleading because not everyone with COVID-19 is getting officially tested.
“These tests represent the tip of the iceberg because we're doing priority testing for those persons who are in intimate contact or a caregiver of a case, ems workers, healthcare workers, residents and caregivers in long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities and congregate living,” O’Dell said. “Having the test diagnosis is not going to change the course of the disease. What having the diagnosis does for, particularly for ill people in the hospital is it does change the use of resources.”
O’Dell expects the peak in our area to come later than the state’s peak overall.