The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that Athens-Clarke County is once again at a high transmission rate for COVID-19, up from a medium level of transmission last week for for several weeks before.
That means that the county's mask mandate is automatically in force. Masks are required in public spaces and in ACC government offices, as well as on Athens Transit buses.
Masks are not required on the campus of the University of Georgia or in private businesses unless they choose to opt in to the county's mask mandate.
Transmission rates are expected to be updated again next Thursday.
According to ACC: "CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — 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 — to determine the COVID-19 community level."
In Athens, according to CDC data, there were 203 cases per 100,000 residents in the last week, with 6.5% of inpatient beds being used for COVID-19 patients. There were 13.7 new hospital admissions in Clarke County per 100,000 residents.
