Dr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

This is going under the radar, but looks like the CDC guidelines for masking are switching back to COVID-19 Community *TRANSMISSION* levels instead of "Community levels."

That means the CDC now recommends universal masking for **71%** of counties in the US, instead of only 9%.

#COVID #COVID19

Show threadDr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

As a reminder, earlier in 2022, the CDC changed their COVID maps over to "Community Levels", which is more an indicator of whether hospitals are full, rather than transmission alone. It effectively downplayed the amount of COVID spread.

#COVID #COVID19

Show threadDr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

Here's a good explanation from the People's CDC about why the CDC "Community Levels" map is problematic, and downplays the state of the pandemic, exposing more people to harm.

https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/03/peoples-cdc-covid-guidelines

#COVID #COVID19

The CDC is beholden to corporations and lost our trust. We need to start our own

We’re epidemiologists, nurses and physicians, artists and biologists. We have come together with a common anger at the US government’s handling of Covid

The Guardian
Show threadDr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

If it's true that the CDC is switching back to COVID community *transmission* for their masking guidelines, that's a good thing because people need to mask when COVID spread goes up, not just when hospitals are full. It also means the CDC is really worried about new variants.

#COVID #COVID19

Show threadDr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

The other implication of the CDC switching masking guidelines back to COVID Community *Transmission* is that many places can't use the "we are following CDC guidelines" excuse anymore.

Under current CDC guidelines, mask mandates should be in place for 71% of counties in the US.

#COVID #COVID19

Show threadSorry, not sorry I’m Canadian 🇨🇦
@luckytran Lol, what are the chances that Alabama is a pristine blue in a sea of red. Lack of data transparency will kill people
Dec 30, 2022 at 9:15pmWeb
Show threadDr. Lucky Tran Dec 30, 2022

@hannsf

Looks like it's because the AL dashboard was last updated December 23, 2022, and due to technical issues won't refresh until January 6, 2023.

Not great to have such a big data lag in the holidays given the surge we are in and the worries about new variants.

Sources:
COVIDtransmissionmap.com
https://alpublichealth.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=d84846411471404c83313bfe7ab2a367

Story Map Series

This story map was created with the Story Map Series application in ArcGIS Online.

Show threadRee the perpetually wearyDec 30, 2022
@hannsf @luckytran Probably they either aren't reporting cases or aren't even testing. That's why South Dakota has its blue spots.
Show threaddawnfryJan 4, 2023
@luckytran @hannsf
Missouri is intentionally not transmitting Covid-19 illness information in multiple rural counties and assigning deaths to other sources, and we are still almost 100% bright red on the chart. Our vaccinated rate is somewhere around 50% almost wholly because of a couple of cities, and it’s still almost impossible to get people to where masks.