Heading into the Labor Day holiday and start of the school year, COVID-19 community spread remains high in Rock County, but not as high as a month ago. Surrounding counties run the gamut from low to high in their transmission rates.
Community spread calculations down to the county level are updated each Thursday at .
In Rock County as of last Thursday, Aug. 25, there were 211 active cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people and 12.9 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. As of Aug. 25, 4.6% of the county’s inpatient hospital beds were in use by patients with COVID-19.
Based on that data, the CDC is still advising people to wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation, to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, to get tested if they have symptoms, and, for those at high risk of severe illness, to consider taking additional precautions.
The local situation is better than it was a month ago. On Aug. 1 in Rock County, there were 294 cases per 100,000 people, with 14.3 new COVID-19-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. And the percentage of staffed inpatient hospital beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 was 4.4% in Rock County on July 28.
Transmission calculator
The CDC designates counties as having a high, medium or low COVID-19 transmission rate based on a calculation that takes into account total cases, total hospitalizations and the percentage of local inpatient hospital beds filled with people confirmed to have COVID-19.
Rock County’s designation could switch to medium community spread if it were still seeing more than 200 cases per 100,000 people but had fewer than 10 hospital admissions per 100,000 people and fewer than 10% of local inpatient hospital beds occupied by patients with COVID-19, based on a seven-day average.
Alternatively, the county could drop down to the medium transmission designation if it was seeing fewer than 200 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people but had 10-20 hospital admissions per 100,000 people and 10-15% of its inpatient hospital beds were occupied by patients confirmed to have COVID-19.
Walworth County
Meanwhile, Walworth County is at a medium COVID-19 transmission rate, according to the CDC. As of last Thursday, Aug. 25, there were 204 cases per 100,000 people in Walworth County, with 6.9 hospital admissions per 100,000 people. And as of Thursday, 5.7% of the county’s inpatient hospital beds were in use by patients with COVID-19.
Other counties
Neighboring Dane and Green counties are at a medium transmission level; Jefferson County is considered to have a low transmission rate.
Northern Illinois
In northern Illinois, Winnebago County, remains at a high COVID-19 transmission level.
As of Thursday, Aug. 25, in Winnebago County, there were 255 cases per 100,000 people and 16.2 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. And as of Aug. 25, 5.6% of the county’s inpatient hospital beds were in use by patients with COVID-19.
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