Morris Co. Has 'Substantial' COVID Transmission: What That Means

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — As the delta variant spreads in New Jersey, the Centers for Disease Control marked nearly the entire state, including Morris County, for at least "substantial" COVID-19 transmission.

That means the CDC recommends that people in Morris County wear face masks in indoor, public settings — regardless of vaccination status. The agency also recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

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The CDC categorizes levels of community transmission by "low," "moderate," "substantial" and "high." High spread indicates more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days., while substantial means between 50-99.99 cases within the same time period. Moderate transmission means 10-49.99 new cases.

Morris County stands at 52.25 new cases per 100,000 in the past seven days. But that figure has steadily grown since Morris County minimized transmission in early July.

Although Morris County's case rate continues to grow, it remains significantly lower than the early-year figures. As cases skyrocketed in the winter and vaccines availability remained limited, Morris County at times exceeded 300 new cases per week per 100,000 people.

The CDC also considers positivity rate when calculating COVID transmission levels. A low transmission level means less than 5 percent, moderate indicates, 5-7.99 percent, substantial means 8-9.99 percent and high is 10 percent or more.

Morris County's positivity rate remains "low," with 3.16 percent of tests in the past week coming back positive. While the county's positivity rate has leveled off in the past few days, it has increased since the beginning of July. See the graph below:

But the positivity rate remains lowe than January through April, when it often exceeded 10 percent — or "high" marks — in Morris County.

At this moment, the CDC recommendations remain just that in New Jersey. People still have the choice to wear masks in most indoor, public settings. Businesses can choose to enforce mask-wearing.

Individual school districts also still have the choice to enforce mask mandates this fall. But as of this writing, New Jersey will not impose mask mandates in schools.

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