Note: our updates can be a week behind due to our news cycle overlapping with Thursday updates. View the latest CDC and NYTimes updates here.

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, there are no longer any low-level counties in our synod.

High level counties are Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, and Yuma.

Medium level counties include Clark, Mohave, Nye, 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 December 7

• Conditions are worsening across the country, with reported cases and hospitalizations up more than 25 percent in the past two weeks and test positivity rates rising quickly.

• The current surge is milder so far than at this point in previous winter waves, but its nationwide scope is concerning. Since Thanksgiving, all but four states have seen hospitalization counts increase.

• New York City has emerged as a particular hotspot. Reported cases there have increased by roughly 60 percent in recent weeks, and hospitalizations are at their highest point since February.