Community Mitigation Resources

Key Concepts

• Slow transmission of disease. The goals for using mitigation strategies in communities with local COVID-19 transmission are to slow the transmission of disease and in particular to protect people at increased risk for severe illness and the healthcare and critical infrastructure workforces.
• Emphasize individual responsibility. Based on emphasizing individual responsibility for implementing recommended personal-level actions, empowering businesses, schools, and community organizations to implement recommended actions, particularly in ways that protect persons at increased risk of severe illness, focusing on settings that provide critical infrastructure or services to individuals at increased risk of severe illness, and minimizing disruptions to daily life to the extent possible.
• Tailor strategies to target population. Each community is unique, and appropriate mitigation strategies will vary based on the level of community transmission, characteristics of the community and their populations, and the local capacity to implement strategies. Consider all aspects of a community that might be impacted, including populations most vulnerable to severe illness and those that may be more impacted socially or economically, and select appropriate actions. Mitigation strategies can be scaled up or down depending on the evolving local situation. When developing mitigation plans, communities should identify ways to ensure the safety and social well-being of groups that may be especially impacted by mitigation strategies, including individuals at increased risk for severe illness.

Resources from CDC

CDC is supporting this critical work by providing:

• Community Mitigation Resources
  This page provides access to community mitigation plans, as well as guides for keeping workplaces, schools, homes and commercial establishments safe. Information on how to prepare and take action for COVID-19 at home, at K-12 schools and child care programs, colleges and universities, work, large community events/mass gatherings, within community- and faith-based organizations, healthcare settings, homeless shelters, parks and recreational facilities, retirement communities, correctional and detention facilities, for first responders, and environmental health practitioners is included.
• Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities with Local COVID-19 Transmission pdf icon[PDF – 10 pages]
  This is a framework for actions which local and state health departments can recommend in their community to both prepare for and mitigate community transmission of COVID-19 in the United States. Selection and implementation of these actions should be guided by the local characteristics of disease transmission, demographics, and public health and healthcare system capacity.

Resources from other organizations

Content describing non-CDC tools on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to indicate endorsement, actual or implied, of the tools. Additionally, information on this site is provided “as is,” for users to evaluate and make their own determination as to their effectiveness.

Other federal agencies

Several other federal agencies are also supporting this critical effort by providing:

• Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnelexternal icon
  Source: Department of Education

Private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia

Various other organizations are also supporting this critical effort by providing:

• Back to Work Safelyexternal icon
  Guidance for retail stores, restaurants, hair and nail salons, construction sites, small offices, gyms and workout facilities, in home services, and ride shares.
  Source: American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
• Editorial: COVID-19 and community mitigation strategies in a pandemic.external icon
  Source: British Medical Journal
• Non-pharmaceutical public health measures or mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenzaexternal icon
  Source: World Health Organization