Does anybody know what this CDC classification means?

[wnylib]

Last edited Wed May 5, 2021, 05:50 PM - Edit history (1)

I check my county health department's website regularly to see how many new cases there are, how many new deaths, new hospitalizations, etc.

Currently the website says that community transmission in the county is classified as "substantial" by the CDC. Is there a hierarchy of classifications, e.g. low, medium, high, substantial, non-substantial, etc.? Anyone know what "substantial" is in relation to other CDC categories?

[soothsayer]

1. Found this

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/community-mitigation.html

Table 1. Level of mitigation needed by level of community transmission and community characteristics

Level of Community Transmission

Substantial, uncontrolled transmission
Community characteristics and description
Large scale, uncontrolled community transmission, including communal settings (e.g., schools, workplaces)

Level of mitigation
Shelter in place

Level of Community Transmission
Substantial, controlled transmission
Community characteristics and description
Large scale, controlled community transmission, including communal settings (e.g., schools, workplaces)

Level of mitigation
Significant mitigation

Level of Community Transmission
Minimal to moderate community transmission
Community characteristics and description
Sustained transmission with high likelihood or confirmed exposure within communal settings and potential for rapid increase in cases

Level of mitigation
Moderate mitigation

Level of Community Transmission
No to minimal community transmission
Community characteristics and description
Evidence of isolated cases or limited community transmission, case investigations underway; no evidence of exposure in large communal setting

Level of mitigation
Low mitigation

[wnylib]

2. Thanks. That clarifies it a little for me.

The website just says "substantial" and does not indicate controlled or uncontrolled. The statistics indicate that the largest increases are in the 0 to 19 age group and the 20 to 29 age group. In the past two weeks there have been 5 deaths and 13 hospitalizations (now reduced by the deaths), which I am guessing were in older people.

Those two groups account for 1/3 of the infections.

This is a rural county with only two small cities and a few villages. The entire county population is under 130,000. So the numbers seem high to me for the size.