FARMERSBURG, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — As COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations have continued to drop around the country, a new data set from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to give individuals a sense of how the spread is in their community.
The CDC describes the ‘US COVID-19 Community Levels by County Map‘ as a new tool to help individuals and organizations decide what prevention steps to take based on hospitalization and case numbers.
COVID-19 Community Levels can help communities and individuals make decisions based on their local context and their unique needs. Community vaccination coverage and other local information, like early alerts from surveillance, such as through wastewater or the number of emergency department visits for COVID-19, when available, can also inform decision making for health officials and individuals.
With current high levels of vaccination and high levels of population immunity from both vaccination and infections, the risk of medically significant disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is greatly reduced for most people. At the same time, we know that some people and communities, such as our oldest citizens, people who are immunocompromised, and people with disabilities, are at higher risk for serious illness and face challenging decisions navigating a world with COVID-19.
CDC’s Website
Looking at the Wabash Valley
When looking at the Indiana side of the Wabash Valley area of the map, most counties are reported to be in the Low level. With Vigo, Vermillion, Sullivan, Knox, Parke, Clay, Daviess, and Martin counties showing as green.
Greene, Owen, and Monroe remain at the Medium level.
When looking at the Illinois side of the valley, the border counties are all in the Low level, including Vermillion, Edgar, Clark, and Crawford.
However further into the state sees more counties trigger the Medium level including Champaign, Douglas, Coles, and Cumberland counties.
But what does it all mean?
The CDC provides the following information to help explain what the various levels mean, and what prevention behaviors should be utilized depending on the level of your area.
For more information regarding this new CDC map and the data that goes into determining county levels visit the CDC website.
