CDC releases county-by-county COVID levels, Cape Girardeau and Scott low risk

Cape Girardeau and Scott counties were classified Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as low-risk counties, according to a new resource at www.cdc.gov called the COVID-19 County Check.

Every county in the U.S. has been designated at one of three COVID levels: low, medium and high.

According to the CDC website, "COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area."

A spotcheck of selected Southeast Missouri counties yielded the following levels.

• Low risk: Cape Girardeau, Scott and Wayne counties.
• Medium risk: Bollinger, Iron, Mississippi, Perry, Ste. Genevieve and Stoddard counties.
• High risk: Madison County.

A "low" level has no masking recommendations.

A "medium" level recommends consulting with a health care provider about masking.

A "high" level recommends masks be worn indoors.

The CDC is inviting Americans to sign up for a free weekly COVID Data Tracker at www.bit.ly/CDTsubscribe.

Also on Friday, the CDC released new metrics showing approximately three-quarters of the U.S. is considered at low or medium risk, adding more than 70% of Americans should be able to remove face coverings safely indoors -- including inside schools.

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