Aug 13, 2020

WCDHD: COVID-19 community risk remains elevated; dial moves up in Orange

Posted Aug 13, 2020 11:09 PM
As of August 13, 2020
As of August 13, 2020

The risk dial moved up from a 2.0 to 2.27 this week, this falls within the elevated risk level. There were increases in the following data which contributed to the move in the risk dial:

  1. Contact Tracing
  2. Direct contacts of positives
  3. Testing Availability
  4. Testing Turnaround Time

The WCDHD risk dial is used to show our community how COVID-19 is impacting our area at a point-in-time.  Every week WCDHD’s team applies a set process for reviewing available, current data (including positivity rate, cases, testing, contact tracing and health care system capacity) to set the risk dial for that week.  Because our process is driven by the current data each week, we cannot predict when we will move the dial up or down.

The best way to move our community toward green is to practice social distancing and to wear face coverings when in public.

The COVID-19 Community Risk Dial provides a summary of current COVID-19 conditions in the West Central District. Each level of risk: low (green), moderate (yellow), elevated (orange), and high (red) are determined by federal and national guidance published by top public health experts and is coupled with specific guidance for actions to take at home, at work, and in the community.

The following data is used when determining dial placement: 

  1. Weekly Positivity Rate
  2. Overall Positivity Rate
  3. New Cases
  4. Rate of Cases per day
  5. Daily Hospitalization
  6. ICU Availability
  7. Ventilator Availability 
  8. Community Spread
  9. Testing Availability
  10. Testing Turnaround Time
  11. Contact Tracing
  12. Direct contacts of positives
  13. Medical & Surgical Bed Availability
  14. Availability of Reliable and Valid Antibody Testing
  15. Availability of effective treatment modalities for COVID-19 
  16. An effective vaccine that is widely available 
  17. Being able to easily obtain PPE through standard supply chains

The risk dial will be updated every Thursday after the information is presented to the Public Health Command Center. Dial updates are posted HERE the WCDHD facebook page, as well as the dashboard.