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By the numbers: Lancaster County Covid-19 transmission is moderate, overall risk low

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Community spread of Covid-19 in Lancaster County has dropped into the "moderate" range, according to Friday's update of Pennsylvania's Covid-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard.

The county's case count dropped from 432 last week to just 213 over the past seven days, the dashboard shows.

That works out to a drop from 79.2 cases per 100,000 population to 39.0. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention defines moderate transmission as case counts of 10 to 50 per 100,000.

The CDC is now combining that metric with measures health system impacts to determine county-by county Covid-19 "community levels." As of Friday, Lancaster County was in the "low" category. Overall, its case count is the lowest it has been since August.

Click to enlarge. (Source: CDC.gov)

At that level, according to the CDC's new guidance, routine indoor masking is not necessary. Individuals are advised to stay up to date on their vaccinations and boosters, and to self-isolate if they are exposed to Covid-19 or develop symptoms.

Test positivity rates in Lancaster County have dropped 4.0%, and average Covid-19 inpatient counts dropped from 43.4 to 28.4. As of Friday, county hospitals had 22 Covid-19 inpatients, of whom four were in intensive care and three on ventilators, according to Pennsylvania's Covid-19 dashboard.

Through Thusday, there had been nine Covid-19 deaths this week, in line with the 10 over the Sunday-Thursday period the week before.

There were 65 total Covid-19 deaths in Lancaster County in February, down 59% from the 160 in January. Deaths tend to be a lagging indicator, ebbing after case counts and hospitalizations do.

Click to enlarge. (Source: Pa. Dept. of Health)