Sauk County Public Health encourages continued vigilance
Residents are asked to continue following COVID-19 guidelines in Sauk County.
On Monday, the Sauk County Public Health Department released a statement imploring people to stay home if they are sick, leave six feet between strangers or other parties, wear face coverings if possible, wash hands and sanitize often.
According to Siobhan Allen of Sauk County Public Health, most people experience mild symptoms and can recover at home. However, not everyone is so fortunate. She said 27 county residents were hospitalized for the virus in October.
“That’s one person hospitalized every 28 hours,” she said in the statement.
Three people died in October, and there were already two deaths this month.
“Each of these cases is a person, a fellow Sauk County community member,” she said. “They are our friends, our family members, our neighbors and our co-workers.”
As of Nov. 9, Sauk County had 2,515 confirmed cases. It took Sauk County around seven months to reach 1,000 confirmed cases, but the number has spiked this fall. If this trend continues, the county will add 2,515 more cases between Monday of this week and Dec. 7.
Deputy Health Director Cathy Warwick said the department reached capacity with COVID cases in early October and has been unable to trace all of the cases. Due to the most recent influx of positive cases, the department can’t call and complete an investigation with every person who tests positive. However, positive test notification will still occur for those who had a test done at a community test site.
She noted that those who’ve been tested at a health care facility will be contacted by their provider if they are positive.
Curbing the spread will require a concerted effort, said Jeff Jelinek, incident commander of Sauk County Public Health.
“We are depending on the individual actions of Sauk County residents. We all need to do our part to protect ourselves and others from this virus,” he said.
Anyone who develops symptoms should isolate from others and get tested. Anyone who’s had close contact with someone who tested positive should also quarantine.
Public Health reminded the public that it is possible to spread the virus without having any symptoms. Not everyone exposed to the virus or who carries it gets sick.
