LAWRENCE – Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has developed a new tool to help community members understand the level of COVID-19 transmission and make decisions for themselves and their families on how to mitigate risk.
The Smart & Safe Community Transmission Indicator considers Douglas County’s 14-day moving average of new cases per day and the number of active cases in the community:
With the county’s current 14-day moving average and active case count, the community is currently in Phase Yellow, which urges residents to take precautions, like masks for anyone 2 and older regardless of vaccination status in indoor public places and opting for outdoor socializing or attending a fitness center only when you can safely socially distance from others. The guidance is available at LDCHealth.org/COVIDIndicator.
The Community Transmission Indicator replaces previous tools, including the School Reopening Guidance used during the 2020-21 school year.
“We have developed these metrics based historically on what the community has seen with COVID,” said LDCPH Director Dan Partridge. “We want to ensure we are giving our community members guidance and tools to decide for themselves what they can do safely as individuals, based on how much of the virus is in the community and how quickly it is spreading.”
The guidance will not replace any potential executive health orders, but it will allow health officers to provide guidance and recommendations to community members.
“We want to be able to give people data to make decisions that can be proactive and preventative, especially at protecting our community’s healthcare capacity and hospital system,” said Local Health Officer Dr. Thomas Marcellino. “The most important thing anyone can do right now for themselves and our community is to get vaccinated and complete their vaccine series if they have not. The vaccines provide the best protection from serious illness, especially with the Delta variant circulating.”
Anyone interested in booking a vaccine appointment or learning more about incentives for getting vaccinated can visit LDCHealth.org/COVIDVaccine.