INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] now categorizes most of the Kansas City metropolitan area as having low levels of COVID-19 transmission within the community.
Only Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas remain at the "high" level.
Last Thursday, the CDC categorized Clay, Jackson, Platte, and Ray counties in Missouri as low.
The CDC’s guidance for low-transmission areas says face masks are not required, but people should maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces and follow recommendations for isolation and quarantining should a person contract or be exposed to COVID-19.
The latest data from Jackson County, Missouri, showed the lowest positivity rate since June 13, 2020.
Public health leaders in low-level areas stress that low categorization doesn’t mean Covid is gone.
Chip Cohlmia, the Jackson County Health Department’s communicable disease prevention and public health preparedness division manager, said now is the time to prepare.
He encourages everyone in the county to get a vaccine or booster, know where Covid testing is available and stay informed on whether the CDC changes a county’s categorization.
“The more information we have, the more data we have, the better we're able to predict what's going to be coming. It's not going to be perfect, but it is going to be able to best prepare people for what's to come,” Cohlmia explained.
The Jackson County Health Department is hosting a vaccine clinic every day this week at its office at 313 South Liberty St. in Independence from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended hours to 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 24.
More information is available on the department’s website.
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