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, February 8th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 550,369 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2,538,097 have tested negative, there were 6,055 deaths, and 24,919 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, February 9th there are 1,248 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County and 8,079 have tested negative. Richland County Public Health now has 47 active cases and 1,188 individuals who had tested positive have been released from quarantine. Of those 1,248 individuals who tested positive, 1,235 individuals have been recovering at home, 72 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. Populations who are now currently eligible to receive the vaccine include those age 65 and older, frontline health care workers, police, sheriff (including correctional officers), fire personnel, and funeral workers. Currently eligible populations 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. Please note that COVID-19 vaccine supply continues to be an issue, so your patience and understanding is appreciated. Once a predictable vaccine supply is achieved, partners are prepared to offer 1,200-1,400 vaccine appointments every week in Richland County.
Richland County Health & Human Services in partnership with the Richland Hospital and Richland County Emergency Management will be offering a FREE COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at the Richland Center Community/Senior Center, 1050 N. Orange Street, on Wednesday, February 10th from 8:30am-4:30pm. AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE AVAILABLE APPOINTMENTS. The Richland Hospital continues to offer COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Monday thru Friday from 8am-5pm at the Richland Hospital Clinic and 10am-4pm at the Spring Green Medical Center. At this time, there are no available appointments thru late February. When additional COVID-19 vaccines are received in Richland County, additional vaccination clinics will be offered and appointment availability will be announced. 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 vaccination clinics, severe weather, public safety, criminal activities, missing persons, traffic issues, and local events.
The Richland Hospital continues to offer drive-thru COVID-19 testing from 1pm-3pm Monday thru Friday; however, they have been closed this week due to the frigid temperatures. FREE COVID-19 drive-thru community testing events continue in Richland County, but the events will not be held if the outside temperature at 9am is in the single digits or below. These events will also follow the Wisconsin National Guard policy requiring that the ambient temperature of the testing area be maintained at a minimum of 50 degrees. 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, 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 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
- University of Wisconsin – Platteville Richland: https://www.uwplatt.edu/news/update-coronavirus
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
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