On February 25, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced their new guidance and recommendations regarding COVID-19 to determine the current Community Level for each county. CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days — to determine the COVID-19 community level of spread. New COVID-19 admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied represent the current potential for strain on the health system. Data on new cases acts as an early warning indicator of potential increases in health system strain in the event of a COVID-19 surge. Using this data, the COVID-19 community level of spread is classified as low, medium, or high.

For more information on how the CDC measures the COVID-19 Community Levels or to check Brown County's current Community Level, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.
 
*Please note that the CDC Community Level may display data that differs from state and local websites. This can be due to differences in how data was collected, how metrics were calculated, or the timing of web updates.
 

The COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Fully vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 more than 2 weeks after their completed vaccine dose series are called "breakthrough infections." No vaccine is 100 percent effective, and as such we expect to see some fully vaccinated people test positive for COVID-19. Breakthrough cases typically report mild illness or no symptoms.

Your likelihood of being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 is determined by many factors, which include vaccinations, but also include the level of transmission and vaccine coverage in your community, whether you or others wear masks as recommended, the number of people you have close contact with, and more. On average, fully vaccinated individuals are less likely to be infected, hospitalized, and die from COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated individuals.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitor rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths by vaccination status. The graph below illustrates the rates of COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated people with and without an additional or booster dose and compare them to rates among unvaccinated people.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) will be updating this data monthly. Visit COVID-19: Illness After Vaccination | Wisconsin Department of Health Services or CDC COVID Data Tracker: Rates of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Vaccination Status for more information.

Click the image to open a larger version

The Wisconsin Department of Health (DHS) supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) use of upaded indicators to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on communities. As of April 15, 2022, DHS has adjusted multiple COVID-19 data pages to align with the latest scientific recommendations from the CDC.

For more information, visit COVID-19: Wisconsin Summary Data | Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

 

The CDC has created a COVID Data Tracker for Community Transmissions, which provides an integrated, county view of key data for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. To view the CDC COVID Data Tracker, please click here. 

*Use CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels to determine the impact of COVID-19 on communities and take action. Community Transmission levels are provided for healthcare facility use only. Check back soon for COVID Data Tracker updates incorporating COVID-19 Community Levels.

Brown County Public Health recognizes that universal masking is an effective tool in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Experts in a variety of fields are finding that when masks are widely used, in addtion to implementing social distancing and good hand hygiene measures, rates of infection are significantly reduced.

Click the links below to learn more about masking related research: