By 1808Delaware, Delaware Public Health District
On Wednesday, Delaware County’s public health agency shared an advisory that reflects the growing concern with rising COVID-19 numbers, both statewide and locally.
It read:
This week we are reporting 2 failed factors on the 5-critical factor report card, therefore we are advising everyone to wear a mask in public indoor settings and in crowded areas, regardless of vaccination status. While this is not a mandate, we do ask that everyone comply with the practices of public facilities and businesses that continue to require masks as they decide what is best for their customers and staff.
The CDC has recommended indoor masking – regardless of vaccination status – based on a substantial or high community transmission rate. Within this guidance, the CDC also recommended 5 critical factors be considered to inform local decision-making. While many counties recommended indoor masking solely based on community transmission, we decided to look at the CDC factors collectively in the form of a report card to give our community a better understanding as to why we recommend particular prevention strategies. The data sources for these factors are all public and provided by the CDC through their COVID-19 Integrated County View website.
CDC does not track factor 4 – capacity for early detection of increases in COVID-19 cases. The CDC considers the capacity to monitor COVID-19 incidence in certain populations particularly useful due to their risk of exposure or illness, including students and staff members of K–12 schools. The Ohio Department of Health provides info on school cases through their school and children dashboard, therefore the data source for factor 4 is provided by ODH. The data for Delaware County, including the percent of ICU beds used by a COVID-19 patient, can be viewed at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view.
