COVID-19 community levels: 8/18/2022
COVID-19 Community Levels is a tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data.
According to the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels, high level counties are Apache, La Paz, Mohave, and Yuma.
Medium level: Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Navajo, and Santa Cruz.
Low level: Clark, Cochise, Coconino, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai, and Washington.
At all levels including the low level, prevention steps include:
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
Get tested if you have symptoms
At the medium level, if you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions.
At the high level, wear a mask indoors in public. Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness.
Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.
State of the virus
Update for August 12
Known daily cases have fallen by more than 15 percent in the past two weeks, a reflection of declining case counts in almost every American state.
The national case average — currently just above 100,000 per day — remains an undercount, given the widespread use of at-home tests that are not officially reported. Still, the decreasing count of official cases since the end of July is notable and sustained.
Cases have fallen by 20 percent or more this month in more than a dozen states. In California, daily case counts were nearly twice as high a month ago as they are today.
Hospitalizations have also declined modestly nationwide, falling by about 3 percent since late July.
Amid these decreases, the C.D.C. eased its coronavirus guidelines this week, stating that the country is "in a different place" with the pandemic given high rates of immunity from vaccines and previous infections.
At the same time, daily deaths from the virus are increasing. Nearly 500 coronavirus deaths are currently announced each day, an increase of 8 percent over the past two weeks.