The following guidance was issued by the Allen County Department of Public Health on March 1, 2022:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new COVID-19 Community Levels, announced Feb. 25, 2022, indicate that Allen County is now experiencing a MEDIUM level of COVID-19 Transmission Risk. The CDC states that in communities at medium risk it is recommended that only those at high risk for severe illness wear a mask indoors in public. In light of these new metrics and Allen County’s decreasing case numbers and COVID-19 hospitalizations, ACPH is removing the Mask Advisory that was issued in September of 2021 as Allen County was beginning to experience the surge of cases related to the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 Community Levels” is a new system of measuring COVID’s impact on communities. The system takes into account not only the number of cases per 100,000 residents, but also the number of new COVID hospitalizations and percent of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients. According to the CDC as of 3/1/2022, the case rate for Allen County is 35.17 cases/100,000 residents in the past seven days. In Allen County there have been 16 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, and COVID-19 patients account for 6.5% of all hospitalizations.

The CDC website includes a search feature by state and county to determine risk level, and recommends the following precautions based upon risk level:

Low – Wear a mask based on your personal preference, informed by your personal level of risk.

Medium: 

If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness talk to your healthcare provider about additional precautions, such as wearing masks or respirators indoors in public.

If you live with or have social contact with someone at high risk for severe illness, consider testing yourself for infection before you get together and wearing a mask when indoors with them.

High:

Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status or individual risk (including in K-12 schools and other community settings).

If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness.