{"id":144506,"date":"2021-08-05T13:05:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T18:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=144506"},"modified":"2021-08-05T13:05:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T18:05:06","slug":"covid-19-cases-up-masks-recommended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/08\/05\/covid-19-cases-up-masks-recommended\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 cases up; masks recommended"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Independent staff and submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Van Wert County General Health District is closely monitoring increasing COVID-19 cases within the county and surrounding area. After spending much of the summer averaging less than one case per day, Van Wert County recently reported 19 cases of COVID-19 in the past week.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Van Wert County is considered a county of substantial transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Levels of community transmission are determined by the CDC using the total number of cases per 100,000 persons in the previous seven days as well as the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests in the same time period. As of August 1, Van Wert County had 20 new COVID-19 cases, or a rate of 70.73 per 100,000 residents. In addition, Van Wert County is now experiencing a positivity rate of 7.1 percent, which is an increase over the past seven days of 3.29 percent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/VW-County-Health-Dept.-logo-3-2017.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85776\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on the most recent CDC guidance, the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated individuals wear masks in indoor public settings in communities with substantial or high transmission rates. Van Wert County as noted meets the CDC definition of having a substantial rate of transmission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its interim public health recommendations for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in response to the Delta variant, which is driving an increase in cases across the U.S. In its updated guidance, the CDC issued the following recommendations:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In areas of substantial or high transmission, CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Wear a mask in public indoor settings<\/li><li>Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms; isolate for 10 days if they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the prior 10 days or are experiencing symptoms.<\/li><li>Get tested 3-5 days after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Fully vaccinated people can participate in many of the activities that they did before the pandemic. For some of these activities, they may choose to wear a mask.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outdoor activities pose minimal risk to fully vaccinated people. Fully vaccinated people may choose to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fully vaccinated people may choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission, particularly if they are at increased risk of severe disease from COVID-19, or if someone in their household is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease or not fully vaccinated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guidelines for unvaccinated individuals remain the same &#8212; masks should be worn when individuals are inside public places and outdoors when unable to socially distance (6 feet away from other individuals). Additionally, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, are still required to wear a mask while on public transportation (planes, trains, and buses) and at transportation hubs such as airports, train stations, and bus terminals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only way to defeat this pandemic is by working together. By applying the tools people have &#8212; getting vaccinated, masking, distancing, and limiting indoor gatherings &#8212; county residents can limit the spread locally of COVID-19. Everyone can play a part. Stay informed by checking the health department website,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/vanwertcountyhealth.org\/\">http:\/\/vanwertcountyhealth.org<\/a>, for updated information and learning what people can to help protect themselves and each other from COVID-19.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Independent staff and submitted information The Van Wert County General Health District is closely monitoring increasing COVID-19 cases within the county and surrounding area. After spending much of the summer averaging less than one case per day, Van Wert County recently reported 19 cases of COVID-19 in the past week.&nbsp; According to the Centers for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 11:23:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}