February 25, 2022
Today the CDC released a new framework to monitor the level of COVID-19 in communities, focusing its recommendations on minimizing severe disease, limiting the strain on the healthcare system, and enabling those at the highest risk to protect themselves against infection and severe disease. The framework includes COVID-19 Community Levels for each county and informs CDC recommendations on prevention measures. The COVID-19 Community Levels combine hospital capacity and COVID-19 hospital admissions with cases to identify when a community is facing a low (green), medium (yellow), or high (orange) level of risk from COVID-19.
The CDC COVID-19 Community Levels are intended to help inform public health guidance at the state and local level and provide individuals an understanding of what precautions they may want to take, based on the level of disease burden in their community, their underlying risk, and their risk tolerance. With that said, FCPH will await an announcement from the Ohio Department of Health and then make any needed changes to our local guidance.
Until that time, Franklin County Public Health continues to advise and recommend universal masking in schools, businesses, and other indoor settings. The Franklin County Mask Advisory remains in place. In addition to masking, vaccination is our most effective tool to fight this pandemic. FCPH will continue to work closely with partners to determine when the orders and advisory will be lifted.