Lexington COVID Level Still Grades as High, Masking Still Recommended

Posted 6/24/22

For the second week in a row, Lexington County residents are recommended to mask against COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

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Lexington COVID Level Still Grades as High, Masking Still Recommended

Posted

For the second week in a row, Lexington County residents are recommended to mask against COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Lexington is one of six counties with a high COVID Community Level, a tool provided by the CDC to help counties determine best practices in accordance with updated local COVID statistics.

If the Community Level is low, masking is only recommended if you have symptoms, have a positive test or are exposed to someone with COVID. If it’s medium, it is additionally recommended that you wear a mask on public transportation or if you are at high risk for severe illness. A high level triggers a recommendation for masking in all indoor public places.

For the seven days leading up to June 23, the case rate per 100,000 people was 243.68 in the county, and the number of new COVID hospital admissions was 12.9 per 100,000 people — these two metrics combine to keep Lexington County’s grade as high.

In the seven days leading up to June 16, Lexington had a new COVID case rate of 215.16 per 100,000 people, and the number of COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 people was 12.3.

Lexington remains below the high threshold in the third metric the CDC uses to determine Community Levels, but having a case rate above 200 per 100,000 people and exceeding the high threshold in either of the other two metrics is enough to grade as high.

In that third metric, the percent of inpatient hospital beds in use with confirmed COVID patients, Lexington reported 2% in the seven days leading up to June 23, down from 2.5% the week before.

The number of counties with a high level in the state remained the same as last week. Richland, Marlboro, Dillon, Horry and Florence joined Lexington in grading as high; last week, Florence graded as medium, while Chesterfield (now medium) graded as high.

15 counties in the state graded as medium this week (including Lexington neighbors Newberry and Orangeburg), while 25 graded as low, with the majority of the medium/high counties being in the eastern part of the state.

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