The Chester County Health Department has switched to the CDC’s new method of calculating Covid risk, and our county risk level is now classified as “Low”. (I wrote about the CDC method in my last blog post. At that time, our risk level was listed as “Medium”.)
For the general population, the CDC guidance for residents in “Low” communities is to keep your vaccines up to date and get tested if you have symptoms. The guidance continues: “People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.” Others don’t need to. (As Lisa notes in her most recent memo: “However, the new mask recommendations are not intended for healthcare settings, congregate care, or long-term senior living communities.”}
New Covid cases in Chester County have dropped dramatically since mid-January, when they averaged close to 1,000 cases per day. So far in March, new cases in the county have stayed below 50 (less than 10 per 100,000, given the county’s population of over half a million). As of this writing (3/6/22), the daily average is 28 new cases (which is about 5 cases per 100,000).
The chart below, from the New York Times, illustrates the dramatic drop in cases. The same thing has happened in our neighboring counties and (to a slightly lesser extent) in Pennsylvania as a whole.
On the Kendal Journey 