Local Covid-19

Gov. Tony Evers has extended Wisconsin’s mask mandate until November 21, citing a surge in coronavirus cases across the state, particularly on college campuses.

The order has been in effect since August and was scheduled to expire on Monday.

Evers on Tuesday extended the order even as his authority to issue the mandate is being challenged by conservatives in court.

Wisconsin’s COVID-19 cases have been soaring and the state now ranks third in the country for new cases per capita. A month ago, Wisconsin ranked 26th.

The National Guard is offering free drive-thru COVID-19 testing in Crandon on Saturday, September 19.

It’s being held at the Forest County Highway Department at 5350 County Highway W from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

It’s open to Wisconsin residents and is first come, first serve.

People are being asked to register ahead of time at https://register.covidconnect.wi.gov/en-US/.

The following is a break down of COVID-19 cases in this reigon as of Friday afternoon. 

The Sokaogon Chippewa Community Health Clinic is closed Friday for a deep clean. A health clinic staff member tested positive for COVID-19.The Sokaogon Chippewa Community said that person is self-isolating. Direct contacts are also self-isolating. The person is not an SCC Tribal Member and does not live in the Mole Lake Community.

The SCC Health Clinic suspended all services Friday so the ICS Cleaning Crew can sanitize the facility. It will reopen Saturday for COVID-19 testing only. Starting Monday, the SCC Health Clinic will be available for testing and emergency services only. 

The School District of Tomahawk is reporting a positive COVID-19 case within the district.

The person was at Tomahawk High School on Friday, September 11.

Five staff members and seven students have been identified as close contacts by the Lincoln County Health Department. They’ve all been asked to self-quarantine.

In a letter to staff and families, the district said exposure was limited to just one classroom in the building. That area is being cleaned and disinfected.

The Forest County case rate or burden is now at 1002. On Tuesday, it was at 544.5 which was the highest in the state at the time. Now it’s nearly doubled the next highest burden.

For persepctive, this is the burden for other counties in the region:

Wisconsin hit a record on Sunday.  21 percent of all COVID-19 tests done that day came back positive.

That puts Wisconsin in the top nine states in the U.S. with the highest case rate in the country.

During a news conference Tuesday, Governor Tony Evers encouraged everyone to take this virus seriously.

A second person from Oneida County has died because of COVID-19, according to the Oneida County Health Department.

It reported its first death on September 4.

The latest death was of a person in their 70s. The health department said the person had underlying health conditions.

To date, 260 people in Oneida County have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 86,000 people in the state of Wisconsin have tested positive. 1,197 Wisconsinites have died.

The Forest County Health Department is reporting COVID-19 cases linked to a couple of businesses.

Two employees at Charlie’s Lake Metonga Resort have tested positive for the virus. They were working at the resort on September 4th and 5th.

The health department said it’s not possible to specially identify all close contacts from an exposure in this instance. The Health Department is asking anyone who thinks they have been exposed to stay home and quarantine for 14 days and call your health care provider to get tested.