ROANOKE, Va. – 10 News is working for you to follow up on local coronavirus cases linked to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. According to the Virginia Department of Health, as of Wednesday afternoon, there were 47 cases in the Roanoke-Alleghany Health District linked to the popular beach destination. All of those people recently came back from Myrtle Beach. “Our recommendation is if somebody goes to Myrtle Beach, they should self-quarantine when they get back,” said Roanoke-Alleghany Health District Director Dr. Molly O’Dell. As with all coronavirus cases, contact tracing is being done but O’Dell said that’s not always easy with cases like this.

ROANOKE, Va. – One local health official is urging people to continue to take the coronavirus seriously. Roanoke-Alleghany Health District Director, Dr. Molly O’Dell, said in her weekly coronavirus conference call that cases have increased since Phase Two of the state’s reopening plan began. As of Tuesday, five outbreaks of the virus in the health district were at restaurants. O’Dell said there continues to be a large number of coronavirus cases in local Hispanic communities even though the Hispanic population is small. “It is presenting a challenge to do disease investigation, case investigation and contact tracing with so few bilingual contact tracers,” O’Dell explained.