Aug 06, 2020

WCDHD moves 'risk dial' up after rise in confirmed cases

Posted Aug 06, 2020 9:45 PM
As of August 6, 2020
As of August 6, 2020

NORTH PLATTE, Neb.-The risk dial moved up from a 1.6 to 2.0 this week, which moved us from the moderate risk level to the elevated risk level. There were increases in the following data which contributed to the move in the risk dial:

  1. Clusters/Community Spread
  2. Contact Tracing
  3. Cases per million per day
  4. Community Events/Direct contacts of positives

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. ICU Availability
  5. Ventilator Availability 
  6. Community Spread
  7. Testing Availability
  8. Contact Tracing
  9. Direct contacts of positives
  10. Cases per million per day
  11. Medical & Surgical Bed Availability
  12. Availability of Reliable and Valid Antibody Testing
  13. Availability of effective treatment modalities for COVID-19 
  14. An effective vaccine that is widely available 
  15. 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.