21 new cases from La Crosse Co. as WI sees more than 500 new cases COVID-19

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) – The La Crosse County Health Department added 21 new cases of COVID-19 to its list on Wednesday.

The county has now seen a total of 465 cases of the virus.

Health Department Director Jen Rombalski said half of the cases are considered recovered.

The health department also said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that on June 1, they had 56 cases. By July 1, it was at 465.

Overall, the county’s positive percentage rate held steady at 3.6 percent.

Two people were currently hospitalized.

The demographics of Wednesday’s cases are:

• 10-14: A man
• 15-19: Three males, one female
• 20-29: Five females, four males
• 30-39: A man
• 40-49: A man
• 50-59: A man
• 60-69: A man
• 70-79: A female
• Two were listed as unknown by the health department

The health department did not release symptom information in any of the new cases.

Today, the county had 398 new negative tests reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services totaling 12,285.

The COVID-19 compass for the county continues in the Severe Risk (RED) category for the spread of the virus in the community.

As of Monday, the county said they were changing the way they notify companies listed on their Outbreaks and Investigations page. They said they would only notify a business if there was a high-risk exposure to the virus. Medium and low risk companies would not be notified unless the exposure involved an employee. Get details of those changes here.

The Outbreaks and Investigations page provides locations, dates, and sometimes the people who later tested positive for the virus visited it. The health department will update it at 4 pm Monday through Friday.

Find that information here.

Anyone in one of the high-risk locations mentioned on the page on dates must complete an evaluation and referral form found here.

MADISON (WKOW) – More than 12,000 COVID-19 tests were administered for the second consecutive day in Wisconsin, while the number of positive cases fell by 60 since yesterday.

The Department of Health Services reported 12,068 new test results, of which 540 – or 4.3 percent – yielded positive results, according to figures released today.

The seven-day average, another measure reported by DHS, continues to rise. The number of cases has gone from 266 to 491 in the past two weeks.

DHS also reported 2 deaths and 36 new hospitalizations.

Almost 540,000 tests have been negative since the tests began.

Of the positive cases, 22,587, or 79 percent have recovered.

According to DHS, measuring the percentage of new cases returned on testing each day helps to differentiate whether the increases in cases are due to further spread or more testing.

DHS now has a county-level dashboard to assess COVID-19 activity level in counties and regions of the Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition that measures what DHS calls the burden in each county. See the board HERE.

State figures for the Western Region, which includes Buffalo, Trempealeau, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon and Crawford counties, show seven people hospitalized with COVID-19 two fewer since Tuesday. None of them need intensive care.

In the state, there are 237 (-5) people hospitalized with the virus. 77 (-2) are in intensive care.

Two new cases were reported in Monroe County. One is a woman in her 60s with moderate symptoms, while the other is a woman in her 30s. The investigation is ongoing in the latest case according to the Monroe County Health Department.

Vernon County Case 37 involves a 10-20 year old woman who is isolated in her home.

Here is a look at case counts in the region:

According to the CDC, symptoms can appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches.
• Headache
• New loss of taste or odor.
• Sore throat
• Stuffy or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea