Implementation of mitigation strategies for communities with local COVID-19 transmission

Updated Oct. 29, 2020This document describes the goals, guiding principles, and strategies for community mitigation to reduce or prevent local COVID-19 transmission. Community mitigation activities are actions that people and communities can take to slow the spread of a new virus with pandemic potential. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus. Community mitigation actions are especially important before a vaccine or therapeutic drug becomes widely available.Because COVID-19 is highly transmissible and can be spread by people who do not know they have the disease, risk of transmission within a community can be difficult to determine. Until broad-scale testing is widely implemented or we have a more comprehensive and precise measure of disease burden, states and communities should assume some community transmission or spread is occurring.Individuals need to follow healthy hygiene practices, stay at home when sick, practice physical distancing to lower the risk of disease spread, and use a cloth face covering (with some exceptions) in community settings when physical distancing cannot be maintained. These universal precautions are appropriate regardless of the extent of mitigation needed.Protecting the public\u2019s health is paramount. As communities work to reduce the spread of COVID-19, they are also addressing the economic, social, and secondary health consequences of the disease. State, local, tribal, and territorial officials are best positioned to determine the level of mitigation required. Mitigation strategies should be feasible, practical, and acceptable; they should be tailored to the needs of each community and implemented in a manner that minimizes both morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 and does not create or exacerbate any health disparities.The information that follows provides a framework for states and localities as they consider which actions to take to mitigate community transmission of COVID-19 in the United States. Selection and implementation of these actions should be guided by the extent of disease transmission (Table 1). Demographic and other community characteristics, as well public health and healthcare system capacity, will also drive decisionmaking on mitigation (Table 2). Finally, a set of possible cross-cutting mitigation strategies for communities to consider is outlined (Table 3). More detailed and updated setting or sector specific mitigation strategies can be found here.Overview -- Monitoring and Evaluation Findings Can Be Used To -- Logic Model Overview -- Monitoring & Evaluation Questions, Potential Indicators and Related Data Sources.2020E:\cpapFiles\WebServer\COVIDcommMitigationStrat2020oct29.pdfhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/community-mitigation.html859