The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided new guidance last Friday as it transitions from using the COVID-19 transmission rate to focusing on the disease’s impact on area hospitals as the main factor in assessing risk, according to Loudoun County Health Director Dr. David Goodfriend.
Loudoun is now considered a “low” impact community under the CDC’s new rating. The agency, however, does still list the level of community transmission in Loudoun as being “substantial,” the second highest level.
Here’s what you need to know.
A new measurement tool
A new COVID-19 community level map is helping communities to decide what preventative steps to take based on data, according to CDC officials. Levels can be low, medium or high, and are determined by looking at the number of hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.
People may choose to mask at any time, according to the CDC. People with COVID-19 symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should still wear a mask.
Additionally, the CDC recommends people stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if there are any symptoms.
Shortly before the metrics rolled out, Loudoun County had a seven-day rolling average of 12.5 cases per day per 100,000 people, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) on Feb. 26, which is down from the record 209.3 cases recorded in January.
What to expect from county government
Loudoun County is no longer requiring visitors to county government facilities to wear face masks or socially distance themselves, according to a Feb. 26 release.
The end of the mask requirement inside county facilities generally does not impact county employees who are not fully vaccinated or who work in health care settings, the release states. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry currently requires non-fully vaccinated employees to wear face coverings or surgical masks while indoors, unless their work task requires a respirator or other PPE.
The county operated Dulles Town Center mass vaccination and county drive through testing ended.
Goodfriend said VDH dashboards will be revised to reflect the new metrics and changing patterns of the disease.
Additionally, the Loudoun County Health Department will continue surveillance activities and hotline, and will take lead in facilitating future vaccination and testing.
Notable numbers363 – total deaths reported in Loudoun County as of Wednesday morning (VDH)
678 – county employees and volunteers, approximately, who are part of the mandatory COVID-19 weekly testing program that started on Feb. 7, according to staff as of Tuesday night. Exemption applied to fully vaccinated employees. 50% of the county employees in the testing program are noncompliant.
81.1 — percent of Loudoun population having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
0 – positive COVID cases during the county employee testing program.
Notable remarksGoodfriend: “We still have ongoing transmission. So, if you don’t want to get infected, maintain those mitigation strategies. But if you’re fully vaccinated, you’re not medically fragile, then what this is saying is you may get infected — the odds are pretty low because our numbers are down — but even if you do get infected odds are you’re going to get through it.”
Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large): “Loudoun, we did this with the science. We didn’t cave to the pressure or the yelling or the politics. We stayed with the science exactly along the way and it looks like we’re finally through it.”
Goodfriend: “I don’t see a variant on the horizon, but COVID has surprised us before.”
