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, March 1st the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 564,268 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2,629,622 have tested negative, there were 6,412 deaths, and 26,158 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, March 2nd there are 1,288 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County and 8,072 have tested negative. Richland County Public Health now has 44 active cases and 1,230 individuals who had tested positive have been released from quarantine. Of those 1,280 individuals who tested positive, 1,266 individuals have been recovering at home, 75 have been hospitalized at some point, and there were 14 COVID-19 related deaths.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that as of today 21.2% of Richland County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 13% are fully vaccinated. Richland County citizens age 65 and older who have received at least one dose totals 64.7% and 35.9% have received their second dose. The up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine data can be found at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/vaccine-data.htm#summary.
A collaborative partnership continues 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 education and child care staff, 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, March 3rd from 8:30am-4:30pm. AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE NO 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 and the Muscoda Health Center. AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE APPOINTMENTS. 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 COVID-19 drive-thru testing site is closed; however, symptomatic individuals needing a test will be served through Urgent Care. 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. Testing events will be offered to our citizens weekly on MONDAYS from 9am-11am at the Richland County Fairgrounds. The FINAL THURSDAY testing event will be held from 10am-2pm on March 4th 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, March 4th | 10am-2pm | Richland County Fairgrounds | WI National Guard Event |
| Monday, March 8th | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Monday, March 15th | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Monday, March 22nd | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County Event |
| Monday, March 29th | 9am-11am | Richland County Fairgrounds | Richland County 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
- 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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