Decline in cases lowers Erie County's COVID-19 Community Level to medium

Erie County's COVID-19 Community Level has been lowered to medium, another indication that this latest omicron-fueled surge has peaked.

The biggest impact of moving from a high to medium Community Level is that the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which publishes the Community Level map, no longer urges everyone in the county to wear face masks in schools and other indoor public areas.

As a result, the Erie School District has stopped requiring face masks inside its buildings. The 2021-22 school year ended Wednesday, but summer classes are scheduled and employees continue to work inside schools and other district facilities.

"Students, staff and visitors are not currently required to wear masks in our buildings and schools while Erie County is in the 'medium' range of community transmission of COVID-19, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," district spokeswoman Erica Erwin said in an email. "We will continue to follow their guidance regarding masking as the CDC updates levels of community transmission each week."

Penn State Behrend ended its mandate Friday, except inside its Health & Wellness Center. A decision on ending Erie City Hall's mask mandate won't be made until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest, said Renee Lamis, Erie Mayor Joe Schember's chief of staff.

More: Erie's latest COVID-19 surge might have peaked, but health officials remain cautious

CDC officials still encourage those at high risk of severe disease, and those in close contact with them, to wear masks. County health officials said there are still a lot of people infected with COVID-19, so wearing a mask in public indoor areas is a smart choice.

"We are still encouraging people to do as much as they can outside," said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., director of community health services for the Erie County Department of Health. "When they are indoors, and even if they are in a crowded outdoor situation, they should wear a mask."

Erie County's community level was lowered because its number of confirmed COVID-19 cases declined, one of three measurements the CDC uses to determine a county's Community Level. The CDC reported a rate of 161.64 cases per 100,000 county residents from June 8 through Tuesday, below the threshold rate of 200 cases.

The county would have dropped to a low Community Level, except its rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions was 10.8 per 100,000 residents during those seven days, just above the threshold of 10. Its percentage of hospital beds used by COVID-19 patients was 5.3%, well below the CDC's third threshold.

Crawford County did drop to a low Community Level, with rates of 168.97 cases, 3.5 admissions and 4.5% of its hospital beds used by COVID-19 patients.

Erie County reports six COVID-19 deaths

Despite the decline in Erie's County's number of COVID-19 cases, the county health department published a reminder that people are still dying from the virus.

Six county residents died from COVID-19 complications the week of May 19-26, the county health department reported Thursday. It doubled the month's COVID-19 death total to 12 and are the most deaths that occurred in a single week since February.

The county has reported 814 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started.

Still, the county has reported far fewer COVID-19 deaths since February, as omicron became the dominant variant. Twenty-three county residents died from COVID-19 between March 1 and May 31, compared to 166 deaths the previous three months, according to the county health department.

"What we see now are patients with serious chronic issues, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is (worsened) by COVID," said Peter Laucks, D.O., a Saint Vincent Hospital pulmonologist. "It could have been flu or another virus, but it happened to be COVID. We aren't seeing otherwise healthy people go into respiratory failure like we did during delta."

More: Erie physicians see more COVID-19 patients, but they are not as sick

Laucks also isn't seeing fully vaccinated and boosted people get critically ill with COVID, unless they are very old or have unique medical conditions, such as an organ transplant recipient who requires immune-suppressing medications.

But people are still getting infected and it's unknown what the next COVID-19 variant could bring, Laucks said.

"I still recommend people get vaccinated and get boosted," Laucks said. "Also, wear a mask when you go out in public. We know these measures work."

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: CDC: Erie County's COVID-19 Community Level lowered to medium