by Kelsey Penrose
Carson City Health and Human Services gave an update regarding new statistics during the Carson City Board of Supervisor’s meeting last week, including information on transmission, safe uses of masks, where people are being exposed, average age of individuals testing positive and more.
One interesting piece of information noted during the meeting was that the neck gaiter style mask was found to be less reliable than standard masks in recent studies. Carson City Health and Human Services Director Nicki Aaker stated that recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 molecules can pass easier through thin material and that cloth masks or surgical masks are still the best option to reduce transmission.
In Carson City, Carson City Health and Human Services found the average age of positive individuals is 37 years old, slightly younger than the quad-county average of 40 years old. In Lyon County, the average age is 42, slightly higher than the Quad-County average.
For more information specifically for Lyon County, click here.
Fifty-five percent of the new Carson City cases identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 42 percent identified as “white.” This is a change from the previous majority of cases belonging to those who identified as white, according to Aaker.
The most common exposures for Carson City county cases were traveling to another state, visiting restaurants and bars, visiting retail and grocery stores, visiting casinos and having contact with a known COVID-19 case.
Fifteen percent of positive cases had traveled to another state within two weeks of testing. The most common state of travel among county cases was California.
In comparison, only 44 percent had previous contact with a known COVID-19 case, typically through work or their household. This indicates that nearly 60 percent of cases are through community spread, or by traveling to another state.
For up to date information relating to COVID-19 in the Quad County area, you can visit https://gethealthycarsoncity.org/novel-coronavirus-2019/
