Covid is calming in West Tennessee but it's not over yet

JACKSON, TENN (WNBJ)-

Now that the CDC has changed its recommendations for wearing masks, there are different recommendations for different parts of the country. Whether or not masks are recommended is based on the number of covid hospitalizations and cases in each county

Mallory Cooke of the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department said, “Right now, here in Madison, county, we are we have a high level of community transmission even though our numbers are coming down, which is fantastic. We're still in a high level of community transmission”

The CDC calls the new mask recommendation method “community level”. Each county is ranked as low, medium or high risk based on covid cases and hospitalizations. Madison county is currently ranked high.

That means the CDC recommends people here should stay up to date with vaccinations, get tested whenever they experience any symptoms, and continue to wear masks indoors.

Mallory Cooke said, "Wear a mask indoors if you're in public, if you're going to church, if you're in the grocery store, because we are in an area with a high level of transmission, they still recommend that you mask indoors even if you are fully vaccinated."

Anthony kirk is following the guidelines,

"When I go out in public, when I go to the grocery store. I do wear my mask…if I'm going to like the brewery up the street, I do wear a mask when I walk in. Because it's so wide open if I'm with my circle of friends, i may not wear my mask as much,” he said.

Anthony owns the turn table coffee counter in jackson,

“As a business owner, I'm thinking about the health and safety of my baristas and also the health and safety of customers who walk in our door… and so with this most recent spike, we did decide to request masks again...As far as our baristas, we do require masks, just because we spend so much time together in such a small space…and so we want to take that extra precaution and as being a small staff. If one person gets covid, it's very likely that we all could get covid, and that would not be good for business, "Kirk said.

Mallory Cooke of the Jackson Madison Regional Health Department is optimistic the situation will change here, "Hopefully, we're on our way to a medium or low-level transmission county so right now we're in the high-level area....But next week we could be medium or low."

In the meantime, experts strongly recommend people continue to wear masks in Madison county and and make sure their vaccinations are up to date.