TAKE CARE.
>> AS OF THIS WEEK, THE NUMBER
OF COVID-19 CASES IN WISCONSIN
EXCEEDED 5,000, WITH MORE THAN
250 DEATHS.
IS THE "SAFER AT HOME" ORDER
WORKING?
ARE WE FLATTENING THE CURVE?
IS THERE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE
TUNNEL?
THOSE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS
WE POSED TO STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST
RYAN WESTERGAARD THIS WEEK AND,
DOCTOR, THANKS VERY MUCH FOR
JOINING US.
>> THANKS FOR INVITING ME BACK.
>> WHAT ABOUT THOSE QUESTIONS?
MIDWEEK WISCONSIN SAW THE
LARGEST ONE-DAY INCREASE IN
CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES TO
DATE.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW?
>> YEAH.
IT'S DIFFICULT TO TELL.
THE TWO REASONS THAT COULD BE AN
EXPLANATION, ONE IS THAT WE'RE
TESTING MORE PEOPLE.
AND THE SECOND IS THAT THERE'S
MORE TRANSMISSION IN THE
COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK BOTH ARE PARTLY
TRUE.
WE'RE UNFORTUNATELY SEEING
ADDITIONAL OUTBREAKS OF COVID-19
IN CONGREGATE LIVING SETTINGS
AND SOME WORKPLACES.
SO I THINK AT LEAST PART OF THE
NUMBERS ARE BEING DRIVEN BY
OUTBREAKS THAT WE'RE SEEING.
AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE TRYING
TO INCREASE TESTING AND GETTING
THE WORD OUT TO PROVIDERS TO
TEST A LARGER NUMBER OF PEOPLE,
SO THAT MIGHT ALSO BE PLAYING A
ROLE.
>> SO IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO SAY
GIVEN ALL OF THAT, BUT HOW FAR
DO YOU THINK WE ARE FROM HITTING
THE SO-CALLED PEAK?
>> IT'S DIFFICULT TO SAY.
YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU'RE PAST
IT.
BUT WHAT OUR EPIDEMIC CURVE
LOOKS LIKE SO FAR IS RELATIVELY
FLAT.
SO WE'VE HAD AN AVERAGE OF 150
AND WE'VE HAD OVER 200 CASES
THIS WEEK, BUT FOR THE PAST WEEK
TO TWO WEEKS, WE'VE BEEN AT A
PRETTY CONSISTENT NUMBER OF NEW
CASES.
THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT FLATTENING
THE CURVE LOOKS LIKE.
SO I THINK THAT'S EVIDENCE OF
OUR SUCCESS, THAT WE'RE NOT
SEEING A PEAK NECESSARILY, BUT
WE'RE SEEING A PLATEAU.
THAT'S WHAT WE SEE WHEN A
DISEASE EPIDEMIC IS SPREAD OUT
OVER TIME.
SO IT COULD BE, ALTHOUGH, LIKE I
SAID, WE DON'T KNOW AND WE'RE
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS TO CONTINUE
TO SEE MORE CASES, BUT WE MIGHT
BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WEAK AND
IT'S JUST TAKING LONGER THAN IT
WOULD OTHERWISE
>> AND SO THAT WOULD SUGGEST
THAT THE "SAFER AT HOME" ORDERS
HAVE BEEN WORKING?
>> I THINK GIVEN WHAT WE KNOW
ABOUT HOW THIS VIRUS EPIDEMIC
HAS WORKED IN A LARGE NUMBER OF
COMMUNITIES WHERE SOCIAL
DISTANCING WASN'T IMPLEMENTED
EARLY, IS THAT THERE'S NO
QUESTION THAT IT'S WORKING.
IF WE PROJECTED THE NUMBER OF
CASES WE HAD IN EARLY MARCH AND
FOLLOWED THAT EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
MODEL TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAVE
BEEN EXPECTED IF WE CONTINUED IN
OUR NORMAL SET OF INTERACTIONS,
WE WOULD HAVE HAD MANY MORE
THOUSANDS OF CASES.
SO I THINK THE DATA ARE PRETTY
CLEAR THAT WE'VE SAVED PROBABLY
WELL OVER 1,000 LIVES BY DOING
THE "SAFE AT HOME" ORDER THAT
WE'VE DONE.
IT'S REALLY -- IT'S REALLY
WITHOUT QUESTION.
>> AS YOU MENTIONED, WE CONTINUE
TO SEE THESE HOT SPOTS POPPING
UP, LIKE IN GREEN BAY, WHERE SO
FAR MORE THAN 250 CASES ARE
LINKED TO MEAT PROCESSING
PLANTS.
HOW CONCERNING ARE THOSE KINDS
OF CLUSTERS?
>> YEAH.
IT'S TERRIBLY CONCERNING BECAUSE
IT REINFORCES WHAT WAS LEARNED
ABOUT THE VIRUS, THAT ABSENT
REALLY STRICT PRECAUTIONS ON
PHYSICAL DISTANCING OR INFECTION
CONTROL PRECAUTIONS LIKE WE DO
IN HOSPITALS WITH MASKS AND
OTHER PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT, THE VIRUS IS SO
HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS THAT WHEN
PEOPLE ARE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY IN
THE WORKPLACE, A SINGLE CASE OR
A SMALL NUMBER OF CASES CAN
QUICKLY SPREAD THROUGH A
COMMUNITY.
SO IT'S VERY CONCERNING.
AND I THINK IT CALLS FOR THE
TYPE OF CONTAINMENT EFFORTS THAT
WE NEED TO REALLY SCALE UP IN
THE COMING MONTHS, BECAUSE UNTIL
WE HAVE A VACCINE, THE RISK FOR
THESE LOCALIZED OUTBREAKS AND
THE POTENTIAL FOR THOSE TURNING
INTO LARGER COMMUNITY SPREAD IS
GOING TO BE THERE.
SO WE HAVE TO REALLY FOCUS ON
CONTAINING CASES AT THE
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL BY DOING THESE
PUBLIC HEALTH STRATEGIES LIKE
QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION.
>> NOW, THERE'S NEW GUIDANCE
FROM THE STATE ABOUT WHO SHOULD
GET TESTED?
WHO SHOULD GET TESTED NOW?
>> IN A PERFECT WORLD, EVERYONE
WHO HAS SYMPTOMS, SHORTNESS OF
BREATH, COUGH, BODY ACHES LIKE
THE FLU, SHOULD BE TESTED FOR
COVID-19.
EVERYONE KNOWS WE'RE NOT IN A
PERFECT WORLD.
THE REASON IT'S IMPERFECT IS
THAT HEALTH SYSTEMS AROUND THE
STATE DON'T HAVE SIMILAR ACCESS
TO THE TESTING MATERIALS.
A LOT OF HEALTH CARE IS BEING
DONE REMOTELY VIA TELEHEALTH, SO
PEOPLE ARE BEING ENCOURAGED NOT
TO COME INTO THEIR PROVIDERS.
SO RIGHT NOW THERE'S SORT OF A
MODEL WE HAVE IN MIND, WHICH IS
THAT TO REALLY GET THE BEST
INFORMATION ABOUT THE EPIDEMIC
WE NEED TO TEST MOST PEOPLE WITH
SYMPTOMS AND PROBABLY A SUBSET
OF PEOPLE WITHOUT SYMPTOMS IF
THEY'RE CONNECTED TO AN OUTBREAK
INVESTIGATION.
THE REALITY IS THAT THE HEALTH
CARE SYSTEM IS NOT RUNNING AT
ITS NORMAL STATE RIGHT NOW
BECAUSE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT SHORTAGES AND CHANGES
IN OPERATIONS TO PRESERVE THE
HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE FOR AN
EXPECTED SURGE.
SO IT'S TURNING OUT THAT MOST
HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS WITH
SYMPTOMS ARE BEING TESTED RIGHT
NOW, BUT THERE'S CERTAINLY
CAPACITY AT THE LABORATORY AND
OUR GOAL IS TO TEST A LARGE
NUMBER OF PEOPLE, INCLUDING MOST
PEOPLE WITH SYMPTOMS.
>> IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT AT
LEAST 19 PEOPLE EITHER VOTING OR
POLL WORKERS HAVE TESTED
POSITIVE SINCE ELECTION DAY.
ARE YOU ABLE TO TIE THOSE CASES
TO IN-PERSON VOTING?
>> WE CAN'T PROVE THAT WITHOUT
SOME PRETTY SOPHISTICATED
MOLECULAR TESTING THAT'S NOT
AVAILABLE ROUTINELY.
WHAT WE'VE LEARNED AND WHAT'S
COMMON AMONG ALL CASES THAT GET
REPORTED TO PUBLIC HEALTH IS
THROUGH AN INTERVIEW PROCESS
THERE'S A SUBSET OF PEOPLE WHO
MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED BECAUSE
THEY WERE IN THE COMMUNITY
ASSOCIATED WITH VOTING.
SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE REPORTED
OTHER POTENTIAL EXPOSURES AS
WELL.
AND SO AT THIS POINT, IT'S A
POSSIBILITY.
WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY FOR FUTURE ELECTIONS
THAT WE NEED TO HAVE REALLY
ROBUST INFECTION CONTROL
PRECAUTIONS.
AND SO IT'S INFORMED OUR
THINKING.
BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO
PROVE IT CONCLUSIVELY THAT
THEY'RE OBTAINED THROUGH THE
VOTING PROCESS.
>> ALL RIGHT.
WITH JUST ABOUT A HALF A MINUTE
LEFT, OVERALL WHAT IS YOUR BEST
ADVICE FOR PEOPLE RIGHT NOW?
>> I THINK THE ADVICE IS HANG IN
THERE.
EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THAT WE'VE
DONE TREMENDOUS GOOD.
MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN SAVED BY
ALL THE SACRIFICES WE'VE MADE BY
STAYING AT HOME AND CHANGING THE
WAY THAT WE LIVE AND WORK.
IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG HAUL,
THOUGH.
WE'RE HOPING THAT THINGS ARE
GOING TO BE CLOSER TO NORMAL IN
THE COMING MONTHS AS WE RAMP UP
OUR PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE
AND GET CLOSER TO A VACCINE.
BUT UNTIL WE HAVE A VACCINE,
THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF
CHANGES WE NEED TO LIVE WITH TO
PREVENT SPREAD.
>> DR. RYAN WESTERGAARD.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING
WITH US.
>> THANK YOU.