What is a Community Level?
The Community Levels measure the impact COVID-19 is having on health and healthcare systems. Arisk level can be low, medium, or high.
What should I do?
If your Community Level is:
Low
Stay up to date on vaccination, including recommended booster doses, avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19, discuss additional prevention actions if you are at high risk.
Medium
If you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider wearing a high-quality mask (for example, N95) when indoors. If you have contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick, consider self-testing to detect infection before contact, and consider wearing a high-quality mask when indoors with them.
High
It is recommended that everyone wear a mask indoors in public areas and on public transportation. If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions such as avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public.
How is it determined?
COVID-19 Community Levels have been developed by the CDC to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest local COVID-19 data. The CDC determines the COVID-19 Community Level by looking at three factors:
- The number of new cases in the county per 100,000 100,000 population in the past seven days.
- The new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 in the past seven days.
- The percent of staffed inpatient beds that are occupied by patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the past seven days.
Levels are determined each week for each county in the United States and can be found here.
