“New and Dangerous Phase.”
That’s how state health officials are describing the current COVID-19 situation in Wisconsin.
A month ago, Wisconsin was averaging about 660 new cases a day. Now, it’s 1,900 cases a day.
There’s been more than 2,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Governor Tony Evers pointed to the start of the school year for a near exponential growth in new cases.
Right now, the 18 to 24-year-old age group is seeing the largest increase in COVID-19 cases.
“It’s critical that we work together now to get this virus under control, not only to protect our campus communities, but for the health and safety of Wisconsinites in every corner of our state,” said Gov. Evers.
Make no mistake, it is not just college kids causing the increase. All of Wisconsin’s 72 counties are experiencing a high burden or case rate.
In a Facebook post, the Oneida County Health Department said, “You should assume that you will come in contact with COVID-19 whenever you interact with people outside your household.” That’s how widespread covid-19 activity is right now.
Oneida County announced 33 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday alone. There’s currently 95 active cases. 388 people have tested positive since the start of the pandemic.
Forest County continues to have the highest case rate in the state. 250 people have tested positive for the virus. 75 of those cases are active.
Langlade County is up to 147 cases. 43 are active.
Lincoln County has 169 positive cases. 48 are active.
Marathon County Health Department said it’s experiencing a surge in cases. 1,151 people have tested positive. 322 of those cases are active.
Price County cases nearly doubled in the last two weeks. It has a total of 66 cases. 26 of those are active.
Iron county, Wisconsin has 137 covid-19 cases. Six of those are active.
Both Governor Evers and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm urged people where masks, social distance, and stay home as much as possible.
“I know we all want to get back to normal but we will continue to see increases in cases folks decide to take this seriously it’s on all of us to take precautions to keep our neighbors and communities healthy and safe,” said Gov. Evers. “It’s on all of us to help protect our healthcare workers. To prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed and it’s on all of to ensure our small businesses can continue to operate safely and our economy has the opportunity to bounce back.”
