Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) released the updated Community Transmission Status today showing the county on the cusp of moving into “red” which would indicate widespread uncontrolled community transmission.
The main indicator used to determine the color status for the county is the seven-day rolling average of cases per day/per 100,000 residents.
“The seven-day rolling average hit 24.32 today, just shy of the 25-case threshold to move the county into its highest alert status,” stated Kelley Vollmar, Jefferson County Health Department Director. “New positive COVID-19 cases have increased 28% from last week with an estimated 13.4% positivity rate among tests.”
Today, JCHD reported 44 new cases for a total of 2,857 COVID-19 cases within the county. The White House Pandemic Task Force Aug. 30 report has moved Jefferson County into their highest alert status of red.
Mercy Hospital Jefferson also is seeing an increase in patients testing positive, which reflects the overall increase in the county.
“Not only are we seeing more positive tests results, we are seeing an increase in the number of patients requiring hospitalization,” said Dr. Karthik Iyer, Mercy Jefferson chief medical officer. “As our health care team provides care to both COVID and non-COVID patients, it’s important to slow or stop the spread in our community by practicing safe social distancing and wearing masks, which has now been clearly shown to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to others.”
An increase in cases and outbreaks associated with social gatherings, congregate settings, and spread among members of the same household who are not isolating at home are some of the reasons the county is nearing the red warning level. Cases connected to schools are beginning to be reported. General transmission of the virus in the community is also increasing.
“The power to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is in each of our hands and the time to act is now,” stated Vollmar. “We need every resident of Jefferson County to do their part; wash your hands, wear your mask, keep your distance from others and avoid crowds to help protect public health.”
