Richland Center, WI: A virtual Emergency Operations Center meeting was held this morning to share information between Richland County officials and community partners in a joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency Management Director, Darin Gudgeon reported that the focus during the EOC briefings will be changing to concentrate more on Public Health surveillance, healthcare operations, and recovery.
Public Health Manager/Local Health Officer, Rose Kohout announced that as of 2:00pm Monday, May 25th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 15,584 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 193,379 have tested negative, there were 514 deaths, and 2,339 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Of those that tested positive for COVID-19 in the state of Wisconsin, 15% have been hospitalized. There remain 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County, 557 have tested negative, and there have been 4 deaths as a result of COVID-19 at this time. Kohout also reported that 9 individuals who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Richland County have been released from quarantine.
The Richland Hospital Coronavirus Hotline is 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 to test those displaying symptoms from 8am-Noon 7 days a week. The Richland Hospital continues to phase in the reopening of their building and services. Non-emergent surgical procedures are being performed now; working through a risk stratification plan from low to high risk patients. A “soft launch” of Primary Care visits at the Richland Hospital campus will expand over the next 4-6 weeks. Primary Care visits will also continue at the Muscoda Health Center and the Spring Green Medical Center during this time.
The Badger Bounce Back Plan requires COVID-19 testing of every nursing home resident and staff member in the State of Wisconsin. The Pine Valley Community Village is conducting their testing today and Schmitt Woodland Hills will be testing on May 28th. It was noted that test results should be available within 48-72 hours after administering the test.
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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