Coronavirus

There are many ways your actions can help protect you, your household, and your community from severe illness from COVID-19. CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels tool below will provide you with information about the amount of severe illness in our community to help you decide when to take action to protect yourself and others.

Prevention Actions to Use at All COVID-19 Community Levels

In addition to basic health and hygiene practices, like handwashing, CDC recommends some prevention actions at all COVID-19 Community Levels, which include:

• Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
• Improving ventilation and moving indoor activities outdoors
• Getting tested for COVID-19 if needed
• Following recommendations for what to do if you have been exposed
• Staying home if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19
• Seeking treatment if you have COVID-19 and are at high risk of getting very sick
• Avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19

People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. Most people with COVID-19 have mild symptoms but some people can become severely ill. Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people can experience more than four weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Older people and those who have certain underlying medical conditions are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. Vaccines against COVID-19 are safe and effective.

COVID-19 spreads when an infected person breathes out droplets and very small particles that contain the virus. These droplets and particles can be breathed in by other people or land on their eyes, noses, or mouth. In some circumstances, they may contaminate the surfaces they touch.

COVID-19 is spread in three main ways:

• Breathing in air when close to an infected person who is exhaling small droplets and particles that contain the virus.
• Having these small droplets and particles that contain virus land on the eyes, nose, or mouth, especially through splashes and sprays like a cough or sneeze.
• Touching eyes, nose, or mouth with hands that have the virus on them.

For more information about how COVID-19 spreads, visit the How COVID-19 Spreads page on the CDC’s website.

Source: Centers for Disease Control, Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov