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.

Public Health Manager/Local Health Officer, Rose Kohout announced that as of 2:00pm Monday, January 4th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 487,938 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2,365,680 have tested negative, there were 4,884 deaths, and 21,580 hospitalizations due to COVID-19.  Of those that tested positive for COVID-19 in the state of Wisconsin, 4% have been hospitalized.

Emergency Operations partners have decided to offer more up-to-date local data on the condition of our county that might not match the numbers offered by the State.  Public Health Manager/Local Health Officer, Rose Kohout announced that as of 8:00am Tuesday, January 5th there are 1,117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County, 7,931 have tested negative, there are 333 active cases, and 771 individuals who had tested positive have been released from quarantine.  Of those 1,117 individuals who tested positive, 1,104 individuals have been recovering at home, 60 have been hospitalized at some point, and there were 13 COVID-19 related deaths.

Richland Hospital Emergency Management Coordinator, Lyle Kratochwill announced that the Richland Hospital continues to receive weekly shipments of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to frontline health care workers, as Phase 1a of the Wisconsin COVID-19 Response Plan continues to progress.  For the most up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine information, follow the Richland Hospital on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RichlandHospital or online at www.richlandhospital.com as well as listen to WRCO for local updates.  Additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine can be found at https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/vaccines-diseases/covid19/.

As Phase 1a progresses in Richland County, it was reported that long-term care facility residents and staff at Schmitt Woodland Hills and the Pine Valley Community Village were offered Moderna COVID-19 vaccines from Walgreens professionals yesterday.

A collaborative partnership has been established between the Richland Hospital, Richland County Health & Human Services, and Richland County Emergency Management to develop a local plan to effectively and efficiently distribute vaccinations as they become available.  This group continues to meet weekly to clarify the details of the local plan.  It is anticipated that Richland County will transition into Phase 1b within the next few weeks.  The current phases of the Wisconsin COVID-19 Response Plan are as follows (as of December 29, 2020):

  • Phase 1a includes vaccinating front-line health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff that generally serve people 65 years and older.
  • Phase 1b includes vaccinating individuals 75 years of age and older and non-health care front-line essential workers.
  • Phase 1c includes vaccinating individuals age 65 to 74, age 16 to 64 with high-risk conditions, and essential workers not included in Phase 1b.
  • Phase 2 includes vaccinating all individuals age 16 and older not included in Phase 1 (general public).

FREE COVID-19 community testing events continue in Richland County.  The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Richland is offering FREE COVID-19 testing events on WEDNESDAYS (1/6, 1/13 & 1/20) from 9am-3pm in the Classroom Building located on the Richland Center campus.  All participants must register for this testing event at www.DoINeedaCOVID19Test.com.  Drive-thru community testing events are offered weekly on MONDAYS from 9am-Noon (or until all tests are administered) and THURSDAYS from 9am-3pm at the Richland County Fairgrounds.  Appointments are not required, but it is requested that those who wish to be tested pre-register at https://register.covidconnect.wi.gov.  Tests will be available on a FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE basis. The FREE COVID-19 testing schedule for events offered in Richland County are as follows (this schedule is tentative and subject to change):

JANUARY 2021      
Monday, January 4th 9am-Noon Richland County Fairgrounds Richland County Event
Wednesday, January 6th 9am-3pm Classroom Building UW-Platteville Richland Event
Thursday, January 7th 9am-3pm Richland County Fairgrounds WI National Guard Event
Monday, January 11th 9am-Noon Richland County Fairgrounds Richland County Event
Wednesday, January 13th 9am-3pm Classroom Building UW-Platteville Richland Event
Thursday, January 14th 9am-3pm Richland County Fairgrounds WI National Guard Event
Monday, January 18th 9am-Noon Richland County Fairgrounds Richland County Event
Wednesday, January 20th 9am-3pm Classroom Building UW-Platteville Richland Event
Thursday, January 21st 9am-3pm Richland County Fairgrounds WI National Guard Event
Monday, January 25th 9am-Noon Richland County Fairgrounds Richland County Event
Thursday, January 28th 9am-3pm Richland County Fairgrounds WI National Guard Event

Richland County residents are encouraged to sign-up for NIXLE alerts by texting 53581 to 888777 or go to www.nixle.com to sign-up to receive emails.  You will then receive up-to-date alerts regarding local COVID testing sites and clinics, severe weather, public safety, criminal activities, missing persons, traffic issues, and local events.

The Richland Hospital continues to offer COVID-19 drive-thru testing from 11 am to 4 pm Monday thru Friday for hospital & clinic patients displaying COVID-19 symptoms or to those that have a confirmed exposureAll persons requesting testing will need to call the Richland Hospital and be registered BEFORE arriving at the drive-thru.  The Richland Hospital Clinic campus continues to offer voluntary medical procedures and Primary Care visits, while also continuing to offer Tele-Health patient visits.  Richland Hospital Clinic patients needing hands-on medical care for any COVID-19 symptoms should call the hospital main number (608) 647-6321 or clinic main number (608) 647-6161 BEFORE coming to the facility.

Individuals who have been tested for COVID-19 WILL receive their results from a testing site or healthcare provider.  However, due to record high numbers of COVID-19 cases, Public Health has reached capacity and may not call you to complete a contact tracing investigation.  For this reason, we ask that any newly diagnosed person with COVID-19 begin to isolate themselves immediately and go to the Richland County COVID-19 webpage at https://covid.co.richland.wi.us/if-you-are-sick-or-have-been-exposed/  in order to receive isolation and contact tracing notification guidance.

Richland County Community Partners shared the status of their individual organization’s emergency response, reviewed staffing levels and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) inventory, and discussed priority topics to assist with preventing the further transmission of COVID-19 in our community.

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:

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