OCONTO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As many people look to escape to the Northwoods for Labor Day weekend, health officials in Oconto County tell FOX 11 want them to take steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Things you really want to go to, you just have to say no,” said the county’s public health officer Debra Konitzer, “we’re really looking for our community to come together and this is truly a health and safety issue, not a political issue.”
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says positive tests in Oconto County have risen from 2% in the first two weeks of July to 16% during the last two weeks of August. Total case numbers doubled from 200 on Aug. 5 to 405 on Aug. 27. Between Aug. 13-27, the number of Oconto County residents hospitalized for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, doubled from 13 to 27. An outbreak of the virus among employees forced the city of Oconto to close its city hall in late August. However, the state’s weekly dashboard shows Oconto County as one of eight in the state with shrinking coronavirus activity.
“Our numbers are high enough in the state. We’ve been in the top 5 when you look at the number of cases per 1,000 and that’s significant,” said Konitzer.
“Our residents are getting sick, some are being hospitalized, and two have died. We anticipate those numbers to increase,” Konitzer said in a news release. “The elderly and those with chronic conditions are at higher risk, however in Oconto County, 1 in 3 of those hospitalized are young and middle aged adults between the ages of 20-59.”
Konitzer issued reminders of ways to slow the spread of the virus.
“With Labor Day weekend approaching, we strongly urge people to avoid hosting or attending large, crowded events. Keep your gatherings small and outdoors. Wash your hands often, wear a mask and stay home if you’re sick, on isolation or quarantine or waiting for COVID-19 test results.”
Other measures to take:
Stay home when sick.
Follow isolation/quarantine orders by staying home and not going to work, school and other activities.
Stay home when waiting for test results.
For those who are able, wear a mask when in public.
Avoid gathering and crowding together with people that you don’t live with.
Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds.
“We know that what we are asking people to do is not easy,” Konitzer said. “It’s hard to miss out on get togethers with family and friends. However, we need everyone’s help to slow the spread. We are at a critical point, and we can all do our part to protect each other.”
Experts are saying these normal Labor Day activities like barbecues or boating with friends is a way to prevent outbreaks we’ve already seen.
Dr. Brad Burmeister of Bellin Health tells FOX 11…
“Not intermixing the number of people you hang out with or the different types of people. Really try to keep a close group of friends, really small.”
The coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force. Dr. Deborah Birx said during a visit to Madison, “we’re saying to Wisconsin and across the United States where they have not seen this level of outbreak that we have seen across the South, that we have the ability now to protect each other and still have our personal freedoms of going out, it involves wearing a mask.”
Information on the coronavirus pandemic is available on Oconto County’s website. Beginning in mid-September, the county also plans on releasing county-specific data regularly on Facebook.
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