>> 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