The peak of the Omicron surge has passed, both nationally and in Virginia; however, transmission levels of COVID-19 remain high, according to Dr. Richard Williams, director of the Three Rivers Health District.

While case rates have dramatically decreased, Williams urged residents to get vaccinated against Covid as soon as possible. He said in his weekly update on Monday that about 70.2 percent of the total population of Virginia has now been fully vaccinated.

Increase in deaths

While case rates have decreased, deaths have increased because of the surge, said a press release from Logan Anderson, public information officer for the Virginia Department of Health. Many of the deaths from the virus reported in February on the online Covid dashboard occurred in January, said the release, because a death certificate is recorded online later than the actual date of the death. Therefore, the increase in deaths seen statewide between last week and this week didn’t all necessarily occur ...