Health officials in Wayne County responded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention risk level increase for COVID-19 community spread over the weekend.
The update, which came late-last week, indicated that community transmission levels had increased from ‘low’ to ‘high’.
According to CDC guidance, masks are now encouraged in public places where risk level is ‘high’.
Wayne County Public Health Director Diane Devlin says it’s time for at-risk community members to take action.
“The CDC’s Community Risk Level is a measure of the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and healthcare systems,” she said in a statement. “It is important we protect our most vulnerable at high levels of community transmission. Some people and communities, such as our oldest citizens, people who are immunocompromised, and people with disabilities, are at a higher risk for serious illness to wear a mask in public places to reduce their risk of exposure and risk for serious illness from COVID-19.”
Devlin says the county has observed an increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 over the last week.
Health officials also provided the following advisory:
- Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status (including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings)
- Screen for COVID symptoms or test for COVID prior to returning to higher risk settings such as schools or other congregate locations, especially after returning from vacation or from gathering with friends and family over the Easter Holiday weekend.
- Stay up to date on vaccines, if you are not vaccinated, you are at increased risk of illness and hospitalizations due to COVID.
- Get Boosted if eligible. Consider getting a 2nd booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna if you are over 50 years of age, and it has been 4 months since your 1st Booster.
- If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID, stay home and get tested.
If you test positive on a home test, please report it to Wayne County Public Health via the Home Test Reporting portal at https://www.wcphny.com/covid-19/ and isolate for 5 days. Continue to wear a mask for 5 additional days.
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