As it updated its guidance on masks on Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control also unveiled a new tool to gauge COVID-19 community transmission levels.
The COVID-19 Community Level tool can be searched for any county in the country, and it rates Cobb County in the medium category. That’s yellow in the map above, while green areas are low and orange areas are high.
Each category—high, medium and low—comes with a recommended set of prevention steps to take, and here’s what the CDC is saying about the medium level:
- If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
- Get tested if you have symptoms
The factors the CDC used to assign community levels include hospitalizations and bed use for COVID-19, case rates and test positivity rates.
According to Cobb and Douglas Health, Cobb currently has a 14-day average of 246 cases per 100,000 people.
That’s continuing a steep fall from more than 2,500/100K in January at the peak of the Omicron surge.
The test positivity rate in Cobb also is nearing the desired threshold of 5 percent or lower. According to the CDC, it’s currently at 5.45 percent.
The CDC data also indicate that Cobb has 12.6 percent of hospital beds that are being used by COVID-19 patients, and that Cobb is averaging 15.7 COVID-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people.
Earlier this week, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said she will continue with an emergency declaration until transmission rates fall below 100/100K.
That order, which continues through mid-March, continues the use of the county’s emergency operations plan and requires citizens attending commission meetings in person to wear masks and observe social-distancing protocols.
A separate mask mandate for indoor county facilities issued by Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris is set to expire Monday. That mandate includes libraries and indoor recreation facilities.
Roughly 70 percent of the country falls in the low- and medium range in the new CDC calculations. In its new guidance, the CDC is recommending that only people living counties in the high range continue to wear masks indoors in public.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that regardless of where one lives that “if you are more comfortable wearing a mask, feel free to do so.”
But Cobb has never had a mask mandate for private businesses or other non-government entities, like Atlanta and several other Georgia cities.
The Cobb County School District also has not had a mask mandate for the current 2021-22 academic year. Most other metro Atlanta school districts are dropping mask mandates.
Cobb government officials said this week they will end COVID-19 tests at Jim Miller Park next Saturday, March 5.
Also next Saturday, the Cobb Emergency Management Agency and Cobb and Douglas Public Health will distribute free COVID-19 test kits from 2-4 p.m. at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road).
Related posts:
- Cobb COVID rates fall sharply but emergency order continues
- Cobb COVID case rates fall but are still ‘very high’
- Cobb Commission Chairwoman tests positive for COVID
- Cobb COVID emergency declaration extended into February
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