Masking is once more recommended in indoor settings in Lexington County, “including schools and workplaces,” according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The recommendation is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Levels for COVID-19. These levels are given to U.S. counties based on “new COVID admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID patients, and total new COVID cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days,” according to the CDC website.

Last week, the level was medium for Lexington County. This week, the county grades as high.

In the seven days leading up to June 16, Lexington had a new COVID case rate of 215.16 per 100,000 people (which was actually down from the 234.64 per 100,000 people it posted the week before). Whether the case rate is below or at/above 200 per 100,000 people serves as the baseline for determining community levels. 

If the case rate is above 200 per 100,000 people, there are two metrics that determine if the level is medium or high. If the county grades as high by either of the metrics, then its level is high.

If there were more than 10 new COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 people in the past seven days (the number was 12.3 in Lexington County up through June 16), the level is high. 

The county doesn’t grade as high by the other metric — 2.5% of staffed inpatient hospital beds are in use by patients with confirmed COVID (down from 2.8% the week before); this is below the high threshold for this measure, which is 10%.

Community Levels are on the rise in South Carolina this week, with the counties of Richland, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Horry and Marlboro joining Lexington in grading as high. Last week, only Marlboro and Dillon had high levels.

Dillon is down to a low Community Level this week, while 15 others (including Lexington neighbors Newberry and Orangeburg) have a medium level. Last week, 13 counties graded as medium.

The three other counties that border Lexington — Saluda, Aiken and Calhoun — have a low level this week.

The number of active COVID cases in Lexington County rose steadily from the beginning of April to the beginning of June. Per DHEC data, the count was 62 on April 2, 262 on April 30, 687 on May 28 and 695 on June 4. On June 11, the number in the county was down to 639.