COUNTIES.
% >> FROM CONTACT TRACING TO OTHER
% TRENDS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST
% CORONAVIRUS, DR. RYAN
% WESTERGAARD, WISCONSIN STATE
% EPIDEMIOLOGIST, MONITORS THE
% PULSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING
% ACROSS THE STATE.
% AS WISCONSIN LURCHES FORWARD
% WITH REOPENING, HE WILL PLAY A
% PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE COMING
% WEEKS.
% THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AGAIN
% THIS WEEK.
% >> I'M GLAD TO BE BACK.
% THANK YOU.
% >> WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS OF
% POSITIVE CASES AND DEATHS
% TRENDING LIKE RIGHT NOW?
% >> WELL, TODAY-- EVERY DAY WE
% REPORT THE SORT OF NEW UPDATED
% NUMBERS THAT GET REPORTED TO US
% FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY.
% TODAY THERE WERE 512 NEW
% POSITIVE CASES, JUST OVER 10,000
% NEW NEGATIVE CASE RESULTS AND AN
% ADDITIONAL 11 DEATHS REPORTED.
% SO THESE NUMBERS ARE IN LINE
% WITH WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING ON
% AVERAGE IN THE PAST WEEK AND A
% LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN THEY HAVE
% BEEN COMPARED TO SAY TWO WEEKS
% AGO.
% >> WHAT EXPLAINS THAT?
% I KNOW DURING A MIDWEEK BRIEFING
% YOU SAID THAT WITH 599 NEW
% POSITIVE CASES DAY OVER DAY AND
% THEN THE LARGEST NUMBER OF
% DEATHS IN A SINGLE DAY AT 22 ON
% WEDNESDAY, YOU SAID THAT THERE
% ARE MORE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY
% NOW THAN THERE WERE TWO WEEKS
% AGO THAT HAD THE INFECTION.
% IS THAT A MEASURE OF MORE
% TESTING OR SOMETHING ELSE?
% >> WELL, IT IS TRUE THAT WE'RE
% DOING MORE TESTING OVERALL.
% IN A GIVEN DAY WE'RE DOING
% 10,000 NEW TESTS.
% SO THE CHANCES THAT WE WILL
% CAPTURE MUCH HIGHER PROPORTION
% OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFECTED
% IS DEFINITELY-- IS DEFINITELY
% POSSIBLE AND IT MIGHT BE JUST
% THAT WE'RE TESTING MORE PEOPLE.
% BUT THERE'S A COUPLE OTHER
% SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT ARE
% ALSO SLIGHTLY TRENDING IN THE
% WRONG DIRECTION.
% THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZATIONS
% IS HIGHER THAN IT WAS TWO WEEKS
% AGO AND, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE
% NUMBER OF DEATHS OVERALL.
% SO WE DON'T HAVE PERFECT
% INFORMATION TO KNOW THE TRUE
% STATUS, BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT A
% COUPLE DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING
% AT IT, IT LOOKS LIKE THE LEVEL
% OF COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION IN
% WISCONSIN IS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER
% THAN IT WAS A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.
% >> SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT ENDING
% THE "SAFER AT HOME" ORDER HAS
% SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS?
% IS THIS WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?
% >> WELL, AS-- YOU KNOW, IN
% PUBLIC HEALTH AND REALLY ALL OF
% SCIENCE, IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY
% THAT ONE OCCURRENCE DEFINITIVELY
% CAUSED SOMETHING ELSE.
% WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
% SOMETHING LIKE AN EPIDEMIC,
% THERE'S MANY DIFFERENT FACTORS
% THAT DETERMINE THE SIZE AND THE
% SPEED OF COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION.
% SO WE CAN'T PIN IT ON ANY ONE
% THING.
% BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THE VIRUS IS
% TRANSMITTED FROM CLOSE CONTACT
% BETWEEN PEOPLE.
% SO IF THERE'S A RELATIVELY LOW
% LEVEL OF TRANSMISSION IN THE
% COMMUNITY, AS MORE PEOPLE
% INTERACT CLOSELY WITHOUT
% PROTECTIONS OF SOCIAL DISTANCING
% AND MASKS, THE CHANCES ARE THAT
% THE RISK OF TRANSMISSION WILL BE
% HIGHER.
% >> SO WHAT GOES THROUGH YOUR
% HEAD WHEN YOU SEE IMAGES LIKE
% THOSE FROM LAKE GENEVA OVER THE
% MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, WITH
% PEOPLE REALLY NOT SOCIAL
% DISTANCING OR WEARING MASKS AND
% VERY TIGHTLY CROWDED?
% >> YEAH.
% WELL, GOODNESS, A LOT OF THINGS.
% SO I'M FROM LAKE GENEVA.
% I GREW UP IN WALWORTH COUNTY.
% SO WHEN I SEE THOSE IMAGES, I
% MOSTLY FEEL SORT OF A SENSE OF
% PURPOSE AND MISSION.
% LIKE THESE ARE MY PEOPLE.
% AND FEEL REALLY CHALLENGED TO
% KNOW ARE WE DOING EVERYTHING WE
% CAN, AM I DOING EVERYTHING I CAN
% TO HELP OUR TEAM IN PUBLIC
% HEALTH AND OUR HEALTH CARE
% COLLECT THE RIGHT INFORMATION,
% COMMUNICATE INFORMATION IN THE
% RIGHT WAY THAT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT
% THEY NEED TO KNOW TO STAY SAFE.
% BECAUSE WHEN I SEE THAT PEOPLE
% ARE LIVING THEIR LIVES, PEOPLE
% ARE TRYING TO BE HAPPY AND LIVE
% A FULL LIFE, AND I THINK WE IN
% PUBLIC HEALTH, THAT'S WHAT OUR
% GOAL, IS FOR PEOPLE TO DO THAT.
% BUT I THINK THE SUCCESS IS GOING
% TO BE HOW WELL CAN WE DO THOSE
% THINGS AND SAY WE'RE IN THIS
% TOGETHER.
% THE PUBLIC HEALTH TEAMS AND THE
% HEALTH CARE TEAMS, WE ALL NEED
% TO FEEL ALIGNED AND HAVE THE
% SAME MISSION.
% SO I FEEL LIKE SITTING IN A
% PLACE WORKING IN PUBLIC HEALTH
% HOW DO WE SUPPORT PEOPLE TO KEEP
% THEM SAFE AND DO THE THINGS THEY
% LOVE TO DO.
% THAT'S REALLY OUR GOAL.
% >> SO YOU SEE THOSE IMAGES.
% DO YOU FEEL AS THOUGH PEOPLE ARE
% IGNORING THE MESSAGE THAT YOU
% RELAY DAY AFTER DAY, WEEK AND
% MONTH AFTER MONTH?
% >> IT'S HARD TO KNOW.
% I THINK PEOPLE HEAR THE MESSAGE
% THAT THERE IS A RISK IN THE
% COMMUNITY.
% BUT I ALSO THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE
% SMART ENOUGH TO SEE THAT THE
% LEVELS ARE RELATIVELY LOW AND
% THEY MAKE DECISIONS.
% THE THING I THINK IS HARD FOR
% PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THE
% THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING NOW IN
% THE SUMMER IDEALLY IS GOING TO
% HELP US DRIVE THE EPIDEMIC TO A
% SMALL ENOUGH LEVEL THAT WHEN
% RESPIRATORY VIRUS SEASON PICKS
% UP, WHEN FLU STARTS CIRCULATING
% AND MORE PEOPLE ARE GETTING
% COLDS, WE WANT TO BE IN A GOOD
% POSITION THAT WE KNOW WHERE ALL
% THE CORONAVIRUS CASES ARE AND
% HOW TO CONTAIN THEM.
% IF WE DON'T DO THAT AND THE RISK
% IS THAT COVID-19 SPREADS IN A
% SIMILAR FASHION AS SEASONAL
% INFLUENZA, WE COULD REALLY BE IN
% A SITUATION OF HAVING A BIG
% SURGE.
% SO I THINK THAT PEOPLE
% UNDERSTAND HOW THE VIRUS IS
% TRANSMITTED.
% WHAT I FEELING WE NEED TO DO A
% BETTER JOB COMMUNICATING IS HOW
% IMPORTANT IT IS FOR US TO SHRINK
% THIS EPIDEMIC AS SMALL AS WE CAN
% TO GET PREPARED FOR THE FOUR TO
% SIX MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD.
% >> SO SHOULD THERE BE THAT SURGE
% IN FOUR TO SIX MONTHS DOWN THE
% ROAD, IS WISCONSIN BETTER
% PREPARED THAN WE WERE WHEN THIS
% FIRST STARTED?
% >> OH, YES.
% DEFINITELY SO.
% SO THE TWO BIGGEST TOOLS THAT I
% THINK WE HAVE THAT WE DIDN'T
% HAVE TWO MONTHS AGO ARE THE
% ABILITY TO TEST A LARGE NUMBER
% OF PEOPLE.
% NOW, IT'S NOT AS HIGH-- WE'RE
% PROBABLY NOT AT THE CAPACITY
% WHERE WE TEST EVERY SINGLE
% PERSON WHO HAS ANY SYMPTOM ON
% THAT LIST, WHICH CAN BE, YOU
% KNOW, SORE THROAT, HAD HEADACHE.
% IF WE REALLY WANTED TO TEST
% EVERYBODY WITH THOSE SYMPTOMS,
% WE WOULD PROBABLY STILL HAVE
% SOME SPACE TO GO FOR TESTING.
% BUT WE'VE MADE MANY STRIDES IN
% TESTING CAPACITY.
% THE OTHER THING THAT IS
% IMPORTANT AND DIFFERENT A COUPLE
% MONTHS AGO IS THE SHORTAGE OF
% PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
% HOSPITALS ARE NOW NOT IN THE
% CRISIS SITUATION WITH MASKS.
% THERE'S STILL A SHORTAGE.
% WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY POSTPONING
% NEEDED CARE BECAUSE OF THAT.
% SO WE'RE NOT EXACTLY WHERE WE
% WANT TO BE, BUT IN A MUCH BETTER
% OF BEING READY THAN WE WERE SAY
% TWO MONTHS AGO.
% >> ALL RIGHT, WE LEAVE IT THERE.
% DR. RYAN WESTERGAARD, THANKS
% VERY MUCH.
% >> GLAD TO BE HERE.
% >> THE WARMER WEATHER ACROSS THE