After hitting a level of "high" in mid-July, the COVID-19 transmission rate in Athens-Clarke County has been downgraded to "medium," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That change also means the end, at least temporarily, of a local mandate requiring masks in local government buildings and on ACC buses.
The CDC measures transmission rate by looking at a trio of factors: New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days.
In Athens-Clarke County, CDC data indicate that the number of new hospital admissions per 100,000 people is 15.2, the percent of hospital beds used by COVID patients is 6.3%, and the number of new cases per 100,000 people is 158.18.
Many counties around Athens-Clarke County are at a high transmission rate, including Madison, Jackson, and Barrow. Oconee and Oglethorpe Counties are at a medium transmission rate.
