Local Covid-19

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is reporting another 1,300 cases Friday. That’s the lowest daily case county in more than a month.

DHS said there could be delays in test results because of the holiday.

Another 17 people have died.

Between Oneida, Vilas, and Forest Counties more than 4,000 people have tested positive and nearly 60 people have died since the start of the pandemic.

All counties in our region except for Iron County is at “Critically High” activity level.

You can find the break down for all counties below.

Wisconsin has set another record for coronavirus deaths. 

The state Department of Health Services reported Tuesday that the virus was a factor in another 104 deaths. That breaks the old record of 92 daily deaths set on Nov. 17.

The virus has now been a factor in 3,115 deaths since the pandemic began in March.

The DHS also reported another 6,202 confirmed cases.

The state has now seen 363,973 cases since March. The seven-day average of positive tests was 28.7% as of Monday, down from 36.5% last week.

Wisconsin nursing homes have seen a spike in COVID-19-related deaths, with nearly 300 reported during a recent four-week span.

Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show 294 residents died of the virus between Oct. 12 and Nov. 8.

The figure is more than 10 times the 28 deaths that were reported in the previous month. The number of cases in nursing homes has also surged.

In the latest reporting period, nursing homes reported 2,130 residents with new COVID-19 cases, up from 387 new cases in the preceding four-week period.

After 55 days of in-person and hybrid classes Northland Pines district administrator Scott Foster gave a report on how the district is coping with the COVID pandemic and more importantly how the students and staff are accepting the changes and challenges.

“We have about 1500 persons involved with the challenges counting students, teachers, bus drivers, and food service and all have adapted well and adjusted,” Foster said. “Our main goal of continuing in person teaching is working and the kids have adjusted to wearing masks, which we thought would be an issue, but is not.”

There will be no hospital beds available in northcentral Wisconsin by mid-December.

That was the grim message from all three healthcare groups in our region on Friday.

Representatives from Ascension, Marshfield Clinic, and Aspirus spoke during a panel discussion hosted by the Wausau Chamber of Commerce, WSAW, WAOW, Marathon County Health Department, DC Everest School District and Wausau School District.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Tony Evers’ says a virtual meeting with Republican legislative leaders to discuss COVID-19 relief efforts was “productive."

The meeting on Friday was Evers’ first with newly-elected Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and his first since May with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

It comes as the coronavirus continues to ravage the state, with hospitals at or near capacity.

The head of the Wisconsin Hospital Association on Thursday urged Evers and Republicans to work together urgently to avoid the crisis becoming a catastrophe.

Governor Tony Evers will be issuing a new Public Health Emergency because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Tony Evers has released a package of 19 bills he wants the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature to consider this fall in response to the surging coronavirus pandemic.

The bills released Tuesday would prohibit evictions and foreclosures through 2021 and continue the suspension of a one-week waiting period before people can collect unemployment.

They would also allow workers, including in healthcare, to claim worker’s compensation benefits related to COVID-19 if they contracted the illness from their occupation.

Wisconsin prisons have experienced the highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

The state Department of Corrections reported 808 new COVID-19 cases among inmates Monday, bringing the number of active cases to 2,063.