Schuylkill County Upgraded to “Moderate” COVID Transmission Rate

Schuylkill County spent exactly 1 day under the pivotal “Substantial” status regarding community transmission of COVID-19.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upgraded the local status to “Moderate” meaning that COVID isn’t spreading through the community as much as it was previously, or only yesterday.

It must be from all the mask wearing.

Schuylkill County Upgraded to “Moderate” Spread of COVID Status

To determine community spread of COVID-19, the CDC considers two factors: cases per 100,000 people in a county and the percent positivity rate, or how many COVID tests come back with a positive result.

On Monday, Schuylkill County had 70 cases of COVID over the past 7 days (through Sunday, Aug. 8). That’s equal to 49.52 cases per 100,000.

It was this metric that led the CDC to place Schuylkill County in the “Substantial” risk of community spread on Sunday, the first time that happened since COVID restrictions were relaxed earlier this summer.

On Sunday, there were 58.7 cases of COVID per 100,000 people in Schuylkill County.

And that was really the only metric that led Schuylkill County in that Substantial risk category.

Any slight rise in the number of cases locally would likely push Schuylkill County back into the Substantial category, however. The low mark for cases per 100,000 people for the Substantial transmission is 50.

Percent Positivity in Schuylkill County

The other metric the CDC uses for rating community transmission is the percentage of positive COVID test results against the total number of cases administered.

For that calculation, Schuylkill County’s rate remains relatively low. It’s at 5.88%, CDC considers “Moderate” transmission between 5-7.99%. Our percent positivity rate is also down from Sunday, when it as 6.08%.

Only 1.75% of counties in the US are at a “Moderate” transmission rate.

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