Local Covid-19

  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced the further loosening of the states’s coronavirus restrictions, easing capacity limits in restaurants and a host of other businesses while also allowing for larger indoor and outdoor gatherings. The revised state order takes effect Friday. The Democratic governor says families will be able to visit nursing homes after being tested for COVID-19. Restaurants and bars, now limited to 25% capacity inside, will have a 50% restriction. A 10 p.m. curfew will shift to 11 p.m.

The 7-day average of new COVID-19 case has dropped below 600 for the first time since early July.

Wisconsin is now averaging 575 new cases a day. The Department of Health Services is reporting 324 new cases Tuesday and another 28 deaths.

The declining cases come as Wisconsin ramps up its COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Last week, more than 234,000 people got a vaccine dose. That’s the most in a single week since vaccinations started in December.

Wisconsin will receive 47,000 doses next week of the newly approved coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.

Gov. Tony Evers calls this amount a “game changer” in the state’s fight against COVID-19.

That news came Monday – the same day teachers, child care workers, grocery store employees and others in a group of about 700,000 became eligible for the vaccine.

The state is urging people to check its vaccine availability map of local providers.

A new statewide vaccine registry was also launched Monday.

As COVID-19 disproportionately affects Native American communities, many tribal leaders say the pandemic poses particular risks to tribes without federal recognition.

Lacking a political relationship with the United States means those tribes are denied federal coronavirus relief funding for state, local and tribal governments.

Without federal funding, tribal leaders say they are less-equipped to prevent infections and curb the significant economic toll the pandemic has had on their communities.

Teachers and childcare workers can begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as March 1.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced the transition to the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout Thursday.

Other newly eligible Wisconsinites include those enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs, public-facing essential workers, remaining health care workers and people who live in congregate living facilities, like prisons.

Of those groups, DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said educators are of the highest priority.

The Wisconsin Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill designed to jump-start updates to the state’s antiquated unemployment claims processing system. Gov. Tony Evers has promised to sign the bill which the Senate passed last week on a 27-3 vote. The Assembly passed it Tuesday 89-0. Evers has taken intense criticism for months over a backlog of unemployment claims stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. He has largely blamed the state’s antiquated, 50-year-old computer processing system for handling the claims.

Wisconsin will open four more community vaccination clinics across the state amid a a push to inoculate people for the coronavirus in underserved areas.

One clinic is already running in Janesville. Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday that new community clinics will be in La Crosse, Racine and Marathon counties, with a fourth split between Douglas and Barron counties in northwest Wisconsin.

They are all expected to open within the next two months.

For the second day in a row, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is reporting no new COVID-19 deaths.

It comes as the U.S. nears half a million deaths due to the virus.

The last time Wisconsin went two or more days without a single reported death from the coronavirus was the three-day stretch of Sept. 6 through Sept. 8.

In total, 6,284 people from Wisconsin have died from the virus. 295 of those people are from the Northwoods.

The daily update on COVID-19 numbers posted by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services listed no deaths for the first time since late September.

Health officials on Sunday confirmed just over 400 new cases in the state.

That’s the lowest count since about 320 positive tests were registered in late June.

The new case average has also reached its lowest mark since the summer.

The COVID Tracking Project reports that the rolling average number of daily new cases over the last two weeks in Wisconsin has decreased by more than 40 percent.

Wisconsin health officials are launching a new online COVID-19 vaccine registry next month.

The registry will help people determine if they're eligible for a shot, let them know where they can get it and allow them to schedule an appointment.

A number of local health departments will start testing the registry in their communities starting next week with a full launch on March 1.

If a person's local health department is participating in the registry he or she will able to access it starting then. The registry will be open to other vaccinators by April 1.

According to the U.S. Census, about 1,600 people in Wausau are undocumented. Throughout the state of Wisconsin, there are 75,000 undocumented residents.

This is why health officials say it is crucial that everyone gets vaccinated regardless of their citizenship status.

"We see more severe illness in people that are from a population of color so we want everyone to get vaccinated," said Judy Burrows with the Marathon County Health Department.

However, many are afraid their status might be jeopardized if they get a COVID-19 vaccine.