Covid still with us, health officials say

According to the Centers for Disease Control, hospitalizations due to Covid-19 are up 15 to 20 percent nationwide since Thanksgiving. And according to Austin Public Health, Covid cases “are trending upward locally as well.” In AHP’s latest newsletter, the health department says while our Covid Community Level is low, another metric called Community Transmission Level is now considered high. “Community Transmission is one of many metrics health officials and epidemiologists monitor. It’s related to the presence and spread of the virus that causes Covid-19. Community Level is a framework used to consider the impact of Covid-19 in terms of hospitalizations and health care system strain. Transmission factors into Community Levels and when disease transmission is high, the CDC recommends masking in health care settings.” What this adds up to is a strong recommendation to use the preventive measures – masking, avoiding big indoor gatherings with strangers, and getting up to date on your vaccinations and boosters – that we know so well from the last few years.