WILMINGTON — Using the CDC’s new indicators to determine COVID-19 Community Levels, Clinton County is at the yellow medium level, whereas under the CDC’s prior yardstick the county was at the high rate.
At Monday’s monthly Clinton County Board of Health meeting, Clinton County Health Commissioner Pamela Walker-Bauer talked about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Friday, Feb. 25 updated benchmarks for measuring a county’s COVID community level.
Walker-Bauer said to her the new criteria make much more intuitive sense because now a county’s designation hinges upon hospital beds occupied by COVID patients, new COVID hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID cases in an area, “and not just your raw case count.”
The CDC website states it now measures COVID Community Levels by looking at a combination of the three metrics listed in the prior paragraph. Of those three factors, the website explains that, “New COVID-19 admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied represent the current potential for strain on the [local] health system. Data on new cases act as an early warning indicator of potential increases in [local] health system strain in the event of a COVID-19 surge.”
When a county is at the yellow medium level, the CDC recommends residents stay up-to-date with receiving COVID vaccines, which Walker-Bauer pointed out includes getting a booster shot; the CDC also recommends getting tested if you have symptoms, especially if you’re planning to go someplace where there can be widespread transmission or vulnerable people exposed; and third, it recommends if you’re at higher risk for severe illness (Walker-Bauer said that means people 50 and older), talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions.
“It [CDC’s updated guidance tool] encourages people to take ownership of their own health, and what they want to do when we’re at that middle rate. So it allows us some flexibility,” said the county health commissioner.
A key difference between the medium level on the one hand and the high level on the other is that CDC recommends residents of a high-level county, when in a public indoor setting, wear a well-fitting mask regardless of vaccination status.
For a county at the medium level, the CDC does recommend masking to those who have symptoms, a positive test, or have been exposed to someone with COVID.
Walker-Bauer cautioned against thinking Clinton County will not go back to the high level. She said health officials expect another variant will emerge, although it’s hard to predict its infectiousness or severity.
But as of Monday, Clinton County’s numbers were not far off from the CDC’s low green level, she said.
Walker-Bauer concluded her COVID response update by saying we “continue to pivot to more of an endemic situation versus a pandemic situation.”
Clinton County Health District Public Nursing Director Monica Wood, RN, reported to the board of health that the numbers at the health department’s COVID vaccination clinics have declined quite a bit since Jan. 1.
“I would say we average probably about 10 folks per clinic,” said Wood.
On another topic at the meeting, Women, Infant & Children (WIC) Director Renee Quallen, RN, reported the breastfeeding rate declined significantly for the first time during her 10-plus years as WIC director.
According to the draft of the 2021 Clinton County Health District’s annual report, 46 percent of Clinton County WIC mothers initiated breastfeeding in 2021. The Clinton County continuation rate averaged 20 percent per month.
The decline in the breastfeeding rate is “disheartening,” Quallen said.
WIC promotes breastfeeding as the optimal infant feeding choice and supports mothers to reach their personal breastfeeding goals, states the annual report.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
