Richland Center, WI: A virtual Emergency Operations Center meeting was held again this morning to share information between Richland County officials and community partners in a joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Health Manager/Local Health Officer, Rose Kohout announced that as of 2:00pm Sunday, April 26th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 5,911 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 59,235 have tested negative, there were 272 deaths, and 1,397 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Of those that tested positive for COVID-19 in the state of Wisconsin, 24% have been hospitalized. There are now 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County, 228 have tested negative, and there has been 1 death as a result of COVID-19 at this time.
Richland Hospital Administrator, Bruce Roesler announced a few changes in hours for their COVID-19 response: The Richland Hospital Coronavirus Hotline is now available from 8am-5pm 7 days a week and patients are still being instructed to call (608) 604-9953 BEFORE coming to the hospital. The Richland Hospital continues to offer their “Respiratory Illness Evaluation” drive-thru service from 8am-Noon 7 days a week and COVID-19 testing is being offered to anyone displaying symptoms.
The Richland Hospital has begun phasing in a re-opening of their facility for voluntary medical procedures. Patients needing hands-on medical care should always call the hospital main number (608) 647-6321 before coming to the hospital. Additional information about the online or telemedicine services being offered can be found at https://www.richlandhospital.com/online-services/.
Richland County Sheriff Jim Bindl reported that “citizen frustrations are high”. The Governor’s Badger Bounce Back plan was discussed and it was noted that we need to start working on a plan to re-open our county safely. The “Whole Community Recovery” Steering Committee met last week and are looking into establishing a COVID-19 Hotline for Richland County families to report any needs they have as a result of the pandemic. Case managers would then determine if there are any resources available to assist the family and determine a suitable long-term recovery plan.
Richland County Community Partners shared the status of their individual organization’s emergency response, reviewed staffing and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) needs and local inventory, continued efforts to assist small business owners, and discussed priority topics to support the community through the recovery process.
If you have a COVID-19 question that you want our community partners to answer, please call Richland County Health & Human Services at 608-647-8821 and submit your question to the receptionist or email the question to rchhs@co.richland.wi.us. Citizens are encouraged to check out the Richland County COVID-19 Dashboard which offers helpful data to better understand the impact of the pandemic globally and locally: https://covid.co.richland.wi.us/2020/04/21/richland-county-covid-19-dashboard/. For the most up-to-date COVID-19 information, follow Richland County Health & Human Services on Facebook or consult the following websites:
- Richland County: https://covid.co.richland.wi.us
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
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