The Shortcut
The @PeoplesCDC created a simple shortcut to direct people to the transmission map, as it became more difficult to find directly through the CDC website.
COVIDTransmissionMap.com is a shortcut to the CDC map showing transmission levels by county, as reported. (redirects here)
Users should keep in mind that even those levels have been long underreported, but at least it allows comparison of apples to apples regarding levels of transmission in our counties.
Why was this needed?
In May 2022, the CDC switched gears from showing the public a map of community transmission levels of COVID-19 (called “transmission levels” or “community transmission”), to using a milder looking map showing levels of overwhelmed hospitals. They call this mostly green map “community levels”.
The following tweets from @musicquestmike and MSNBC’s the @MehdiHasanShow discuss this change.
Why does this matter?
The situation created by switching to this map is that it gives the misleading appearance of far lower risk, encouraging individuals and businesses to stop taking precautions, thereby making the problem of transmission worse.