A small, private college in Atlanta made national headlines after introducing a mask mandate for students, even though there have been zero confirmed COVID-19 cases on its campus. Hollywood film studio Lionsgate also brought back masks at its California headquarters after employees tested positive.
In Atlanta, Morris Brown College announced it is requiring students to mask up, social distance and not gather for parties for two weeks, citing reports of positive COVID-19 cases among students. The president of the college has confirmed there aren’t any active cases on campus, and the mandate is “precautionary.”
According to the latest CDC data in Fulton County, Georgia, where the college is located, there were 3.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the week ending Aug. 12. Health officials have focused on hospitalizations, where there is an 18% increase from the week prior.
In mid-June of 2023, hospitalizations in the county were at a near all-time low of .5 per 100,000 people. Hospitalizations have risen 540% in two months.
While the percentage comparisons indicate a massive jump, the actual number of hospitalizations paints a different picture. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Georgia health officials deem the risk as low.
“While the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is seeing an uptick in new COVID cases and hospitalizations related to COVID, the numbers remain relatively low, compared to the state’s peak in January 2022 or even summer COVID increases in previous years,” the Georgia Health Department said.
The same goes for Los Angeles County, where Lionsgate made headlines for new COVID-19 restrictions, including mandatory mask-wearing and quarantines after some of its employees tested positive. According to the most recent CDC data, there were 4.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in Los Angeles County.
For reference, during the height of the pandemic in 2021, there were 57.1 hospitalizations per 100,000 people. There were 43 hospitalizations per 100,000 at 2022’s peak.
While hospitalizations have risen 27% week over week, that’s in part because last week’s hospitalizations were at just 3.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 peoples. Los Angeles County health officials have deemed COVID-19 to be a low risk to the community.
According to CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, the majority of the country has a level of COVID-19 hospitalizations at less than 10 per 100,000 people. Some counties have hospitalization rates between 10 and 19.9 admissions per 100,000 residents.
It isn’t until a county has hospitalization rates at 20 or more per 100,000 that the CDC recommends everyone to wear a mask. No county in the country is currently seeing that high a hospitalization rate.
