But what constitutes as "high" or "substantial?" And what parts of the United States and more specifically, Southern California, are seeing these high rates of COVID-19?
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Along with the new guidelines, the CDC released a map showing which areas are experiencing surging COVID rates. We've pulled that data into a map below of California counties. The community transmission levels are based on case and positivity rates.
CDC COVID-19 Transmission Map by County
Click on a county below for more information, or search for a county in the table.
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According to an internal document from the CDC, the delta variant appears to cause more severe illness and spreads as easily as chickenpox, with each infected person, on average, infecting eight or nine others. The original lineage was about as transmissible as the common cold, with each infected person passing the virus to about two other people on average.