CDC: National surge in COVID infection includes nine Chattanooga-area counties at high risk

Medical worker holding Coronavirus COVID-19 NP OP swab sample test kit, nasal collection equipment, CDC submitting form, reverse transcription RT-PCR DNA molecular nucleic acid diagnostic procedure covid tile coronavirus tile covid test testing tile / Getty Images Medical worker holding Coronavirus COVID-19 NP OP swab sample test kit, nasal collection equipment, CDC submitting form, reverse transcription RT-PCR DNA molecular nucleic acid diagnostic procedure covid tile coronavirus tile covid test testing tile / Getty Images

By Elizabeth Fite July 18, 2022 3 min read

Hamilton County is among nine counties in the Chattanooga region currently considered high-risk for COVID-19 infection by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.

The area’s high-risk counties are Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee, Chattooga, Dade, Gordon and Walker counties in Georgia and DeKalb and Jackson counties in Alabama.

Risk levels are calculated each Thursday and are based on the weekly rate of new cases, hospital admissions and the percent of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

The CDC recommends that people in high-risk areas wear face masks indoors in public and on public transportation, stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested and isolate from others if experiencing symptoms.