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 Thursday, April 30th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 6,854 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 69,394 have tested negative, there were 316 deaths, and 1,512 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Of those that tested positive for COVID-19 in the state of Wisconsin, 22% have been hospitalized. There are 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County, 255 have tested negative, and there have been 2 deaths as a result of COVID-19 at this time.
The Richland Hospital Coronavirus Hotline remains available 24 hours a day 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. Richland Hospital Emergency Management Coordinator, Lyle Kratochwill announced that the hospital plans to offer non-emergent surgical procedures starting Monday, May 4th and preparations continue for reopening their facilities sometime in May.
Richland County Economic Development Director, Jasen Glasbrenner reported that the Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce (WMC) released a “Back to Business” Plan that is designed to strategically open Wisconsin businesses based on a number of risk factors and offers employers a clear vision for when and how they can begin to operate. The plan utilizes an algorithm to determine the risk for an individual business based upon a number of factors. The business would then be issued a risk level; the higher the risk, the more precautions they would be required to take to avoid further spread of COVID-19. Additional information about the proposed “Back to Business” plan can be found at https://www.wmc.org/news/press-releases/wmc-announces-plan-to-get-back-to-business/.
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, and discussed priority topics to support the community through the recovery process. Details on the Badger Bounce Back plan can be found at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p02653a.pdf.
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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