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 25th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 533,917 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2,477,588 have tested negative, there were 5,699 deaths, and 23,748 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 26th there are 1,209 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County and 8,055 have tested negative. Richland County Public Health now has 51 active cases and 1,145 individuals who had tested positive have been released from quarantine. Of those 1,209 individuals who tested positive, 1,196 individuals have been recovering at home, 69 have been hospitalized at some point, and there were 13 COVID-19 related deaths.
A collaborative partnership has been established between the Richland Hospital, Center Pharmacy, Richland County Health & Human Services, and Richland County Emergency Management to develop a local plan to effectively and efficiently distribute COVID-19 vaccinations as they become available. This group continues to meet weekly to clarify the details and progression of the local plan as instructed by the Wisconsin COVID-19 Response Plan. Richland County is finalizing Phase 1A and progressing onto Phase 1B. Individuals who are now eligible to receive the vaccine under Phase 1B include those age 65 and older, frontline health care workers, police, sheriff (including correctional officers), fire personnel, and funeral workers. Eligible 1B individuals should go to the Richland Hospital website at www.richlandhospital.com/covid19 to register for any of the local clinics or to request to be put on the waiting list.
Richland County Health & Human Services in partnership with the Richland Hospital and Richland County Emergency Management will be offering their first FREE COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at the Richland Center Community/Senior Center, 1050 N. Orange Street, on Wednesday, January 27th from 9am-1pm. FREE COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics will then be offered every Wednesday from 8:30am-4:30pm at the Richland Center Community/Senior Center starting February 3rd. The Richland Hospital continues to offer COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Monday thru Friday from 8am-5pm at the Richland Medical Center and 10am-4pm at the Spring Green Medical Center.
FREE COVID-19 drive-thru community testing events continue in Richland County, but the hours have been adjusted, and the events will not be held if the outside temperature at 9am is in the single digits. These testing events are offered weekly on MONDAYS from 9am-11am and THURSDAYS from 10am-2pm 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):
| Thursday, January 28th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, February 1st | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Thursday, February 4th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, February 8th | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Thursday, February 11th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, February 15th | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Thursday, February 18th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, February 22nd | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Thursday, February 25th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, March 1st | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Thursday, March 4th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
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:
- 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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