Los Alamos County Issues Sept. 9 COVID-19 Newsletter

Courtesy/LAC

COUNTY News: 

In this week’s Los Alamos County COVID-19 Newsletter issued Friday, Sept. 9, William F. Athas, PhD, writes in the “Epidemiology Corner” that the CDC Community Level for Los Alamos increased from Low to Medium.

He states that, “For the week ending Sept. 6, the CDC Community Level is MEDIUM. Compared to the prior week ending Aug. 30, the reported case incidence in the county declined nearly two-fold from 160 to 88 per 100,000, but both Health Services Area (HSA) hospitalization indicators increased by roughly two-fold.

New COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 increased from 5.4 to 10.4, rising above the CDC criteria threshold and causing the increase to Medium from the prior week’s Low designation. The percent staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 more than doubled from 3.1 percent to 6.6 percent. As COVID-19 hospitalization metrics are generally lagging indicators, they would only be expected to increase following preceding increases in case transmission.

Of the four counties in the HSA, only Rio Arriba county saw increased case transmission from the prior week (94 to 144 per 100,000). The notable recent decline in COVID-19 related emergency department (ED) visits for Los Alamos would suggest that other counties in the HSA are likely contributing to the increased hospitalization rate. The NMDOH does not routinely provide county-specific hospitalization rates that conform with those used in the CDC Community Levels matrix. 

CDC recommendations at MEDIUM Community Level risk can be accessed here. See HERE CDC recommends that persons use information about the current level of COVID-19 impact on their community to decide which prevention behaviors to use and when (at all times or at specific times), based on their own risk for severe illness and that of members of their household, their risk tolerance, and setting-specific factors. See HERE.

To read the full “Epidemiology Corner” and other stories from the “LANL Research News” desk, visit the newsletter link: https://conta.cc/3cZFcbF.

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