Richland Center, WI: A virtual Emergency Operations Center meeting was held yesterday 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 Wednesday, March 17th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed that in the state of Wisconsin there were 570,730 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2,675,211 have tested negative, there were 6,554 deaths, and 29,942 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 Thursday, March 18th there are 1,295 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Richland County and 7,957 have tested negative. Richland County Public Health now has 32 active cases and 1,249 individuals who had tested positive have been released from quarantine. Of those 1,295 individuals who tested positive, 1,280 individuals have been recovering at home, 75 have been hospitalized at some point, and there were 15 COVID-19 related deaths.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that as of today 27.2% of Richland County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 19.4% are fully vaccinated. Richland County citizens age 65 and older who have received at least one dose totals 73.1%. 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 in Richland County will be expanded further on Monday, March 22nd. 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. Individuals needing assistance with making an appointment should call Richland County Health & Human Services at 608-647-8821 or the Richland Hospital COVID-19 Hotline at 608-647-1820.
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.
FREE COVID-19 drive-thru community testing events will continue in Richland County on MONDAYS ONLY from 9am-11am at the Richland County Fairgrounds at least through the end of March. Richland County Emergency Management Director, Darin Gudgeon announced the number of individuals tested at the FREE COVID-19 community testing event held earlier this week. On March 15th 25 individuals were tested and the results of those tests will be included in the appropriate county’s totals once they are received and verified. The Richland Hospital COVID-19 drive-thru testing site is closed; however, symptomatic individuals needing a test will be served through Urgent Care. The FREE COVID-19 testing schedule for events offered in Richland County are as follows (this schedule is tentative and subject to change):
| 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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