EAU CLAIRE – Although far fewer Eau Claire County residents currently tested positive for COVID-19 compared to four months ago, state and local health officials are warning that further increases are possible this spring.
“This is not the time to throw all precautionary measures out the window,” said Lieske Giese, director of the Eau Claire City-County Ministry of Health, at a press conference on Thursday. “Yes, we vaccinate people, but we are in a place where we have no herd immunity. We have to be careful. “
Cases in the county remain minor, although outbreaks are occurring in neighboring states.
An average of six Eau Claire County residents have had a positive COVID-19 test per day for the past week, which is below the county’s benchmark of 10 or fewer cases per day, to keep public health resources from being drained .
“Our goal is still to keep this number as low as possible,” said Giese on Thursday. “… Our case numbers have increased in the last few days. We are watching this very closely, especially given the news from Minnesota and the surrounding states that they are seeing increasing cases again, and also with the news that the new variant is on the rise. “
Daily COVID-19 cases are picking up again in both Minnesota and Michigan.
The daily cases in Wisconsin seem to be increasing slightly. The state’s lowest weekly average was 363 cases per week in early March. On Friday, the state’s weekly average was 465 cases per week.
Wisconsin health officials on Thursday urged people not to travel if they are not vaccinated, noting that even vaccinated or low-risk people can get COVID-19 and pass it on to others.
“… We’d like to caution traveling with caution because we don’t want to bring variants to Wisconsin that could spread to other people if you come back who are still vulnerable,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, assistant secretary for Wisconsin -Department of Health Services.
Three variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been found in Wisconsin.
78 Wisconsin residents have tested positive for the strain of the virus, which originated in England. The first case in Wisconsin was an Eau Claire County resident who tested positive for the virus in December after traveling internationally. (In total, at least three residents of Eau Claire County have tested positive for the English-native variant, which was named B.1.1.7.)
The B.1.1.7 variant is believed to spread more easily than the original virus strain, and it could be linked to an increased risk of death, according to DHS.
Wisconsin has also found two cases of a new variant, first discovered in South Africa in October, and one case of a variant that may have originated in Brazil.
Viruses often mutate or change as they multiply. Many of these mutations are harmless, but some have shown increased disease or communicability.
“We don’t want to bring more variants to Wisconsin, and we don’t want to take five steps back when we’re on the verge of things getting much better,” said Van Dijk. “If we allow ourselves a little patience and can continue to deliver 300,000 vaccines per week for the next eight to ten weeks, we will be much further along than before.”
Nationwide, 28% of people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 16% are fully vaccinated.
The state has announced that it will make vaccines available to all residents aged 16 and over on May 1.
