What Low, Moderate, Elevated and High mean

For U.S. states, OutbreakWatch shows the levels the CDC publishes (for example, hospital admission levels and the acute respiratory illness level). CDC's own labels are kept and shown alongside ours.

For countries, OutbreakWatch compares the latest week with the same country's past weeks. Activity in the top part of its own history is Elevated or High; activity in the lower part is Low. This shows when a country is unusually busy for that country. It doesn't compare countries with each other, because testing and reporting differ widely.

• Low: reported activity is in the lower range. Low is not zero.
• Moderate: activity is in the middle range.
• Elevated: activity is higher than usual.
• High: activity is among the highest seen.
• Insufficient data: not enough recent or reliable data to classify.

Levels describe reported activity in the population. They are not a personal risk score.