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In its latest update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upgraded Hampshire County to “substantial,” after being previously dubbed a “moderate” risk for spreading infection.
According to the CDC, people in “substantial,” or “high” transmission areas should wear a mask indoors to help reduce the spread of the virus. Anyone who is immunocompromised has also been advised to mask up.
“Substantial” transmission means the county has seen between 50 and 99.99 total new cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days, according to the CDC. However, “High” transmission includes anything above that number.
“Moderate” is between 10 and 49.99 cases per 100,000 persons in the past week, and “low” transmission is anything below that.
In Massachusetts, these counties have been dubbed “high” risk for transmission as of Friday, Aug. 13:
- Barnstable;
- Berkshire;
- Bristol;
- Dukes;
- Essex;
- Hampden;
- Nantucket;
- Plymouth;
- Suffolk.
These counties are now a “substantial” risk for transmission:
- Franklin;
- Hampshire;
- Middlesex;
- Norfolk;
- Worcester.
Nationwide, there are currently 2,511 counties (77.98 percent) in the US with a “high” level of community transmission rate, while there are 446 (13.85 percent) with a “substantial,” 128 (3.98 percent) with a “moderate,” and 134 (4.16 percent) with a “low” transmission rate.
Complete data from the CDC can be found here as the number of cases continues to surge across the country.
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