SEASON, COVID CONTINUES TO POUND
WISCONSIN, WITH DELTA STILL
BEING THE DOMINANT VARIANT AND
OMICRON MOVING IN.
40 COUNTIES ARE IN THE
CRITICALLY HIGH CATEGORY.
DAILY NUMBERS SHOW 3,965
POSITIVE CASES ACROSS THE STATE
TODAY.
AND THE RATE OF THE STATE
POPULATION WHO HAVE RECEIVED TWO
VACCINES SITS AT 57.7%.
MARATHON COUNTY IS ONE OF THOSE
IN THE CRITICALLY HIGH CATEGORY.
53.5% OF THE POPULATION HAS
COMPLETED THE VACCINE SERIES.
WE TURN NOW TO LAURA SCUDIERE,
PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER OF
MARATHON COUNTY.
THANKS VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING
ME.
>> SO WHAT ARE THE TRENDS FOR
COVID POSITIVITY LOOKING LIKE IN
YOUR COUNTY?
>> YEAH.
WELL, CURRENTLY MARATHON COUNTY
HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES OF
DISEASE, HOSPITALIZATIONS AND
DEATHS IN THE STATE.
WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS WE'RE AT A
CRITICALLY HIGH LEVEL ACCORDING
TO DHS.
THAT MEANS OUR CASE NUMBERS ARE
CLIMBING AND HOSPITALS IN OUR
AREAS ARE EITHER AT CAPACITY OR
NEARING CAPACITY AND THEY'RE
HAVING STAFFING SHORTAGES.
>> WHAT ARE YOUR CONCERNS
HEADING INTO THE HOLIDAYS, THE
HOLIDAY WEEKS AHEAD?
>> YEAH.
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT FURTHER
SPREAD, PARTICULARLY THIS FAMILY
GATHERINGS BETWEEN UNVACCINATED
INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUALS THAT
ARE TAKING NO PRECAUTIONARY
MEASURES WHATSOEVER.
I THINK THAT THERE IS A FEELING
WITHIN OUR COUNTY THAT PEOPLE
JUST WANT TO BE DONE.
THEY JUST WANT TO BE DONE WITH
THE PANDEMIC.
AND I WISH I COULD SAY THAT WE
ARE DONE.
WE ARE NOT DONE WITH IT.
WE NEED PEOPLE TO CONSIDER
VACCINATION, SEEK OUT
VACCINATION SITES.
AND ALL THE SAME PRECAUTIONARY
MEASURES WE WERE TAKING THIS
TIME LAST YEAR SHOULD STILL
APPLY.
>> SO MARATHON COUNTY'S VACCINE
RATE FOR TWO SHOTS IS 53.5%.
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THAT
LEVEL OF VACCINATION LEVEL IN
YOUR COMMUNITY?
>> I WOULD LOVE IT TO BE HIGHER.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING HARD FOR IT
TO BE HIGHER.
I'VE DONE A GREAT DEAL OF
RESEARCH ON WHAT WOULD IN EFFECT
HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND MORE
ABOUT VACCINATION AND ENCOURAGE
THEM TO TAKE THAT OPTION.
AND WHAT I FOUND IS THAT
GENERALLY AT THIS POINT PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN SATURATED WITH
MESSAGES ABOUT VACCINATION.
SO REALLY WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT
IS IN ORDER TO MOVE PEOPLE
TOWARDS VACCINATION, IT WOULD BE
EXTREMELY TIME-INTENSIVE
RESOURCE, LIKE LOTS OF
DISCUSSION ONE-ON-ONE WITH
INDIVIDUALS.
SO I THINK THE BETTER -- THE
BETTER MEASURE THAT WE'VE BEEN
TAKING IS ACTUALLY TO WORK WITH
INDIVIDUALS THROUGH LISTENING,
EMPATHY, TALKING WITH PEOPLE AND
ACTUALLY SHARING INFORMATION
RATHER THAN JUST FORCING
INFORMATION ABOUT VACCINE DOWN
PEOPLE'S THROATS.
>> WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GETTING
VACCINATED AT ALL, BUT WHAT IS
THE UPTAKE IN YOUR COUNTY FOR
BOOSTERS?
>> ACTUALLY, WE'VE BEEN SEEING A
GOOD DEAL OF BOOSTERS GET -- GO
THROUGH.
WE HAVE A VACCINATION SITE WITH
THE STATE HERE IN MARATHON
COUNTY IN ADDITION TO THE
HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
AND WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING IS
THAT THERE WAS A DRAMATIC
INCREASE THE WEEK THAT BOOSTERS
WERE OFFERED.
AND WE'VE ALSO SEEN AN INCREASE
IN CHILDREN GETTING VACCINATED.
WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE PEOPLE
TAKE THAT OPTION.
>> AT THIS POINT, HAVE YOU
ISOLATED ANY OF THE OMICRON
VARIANT?
>> SO WE ARE NOT AWARE OF
OMICRON BEING IN MARATHON COUNTY
YET, BUT WE ANTICIPATE IT ANY
DAY NOW.
WE HAVE NOTICED THAT OMICRON IS
IN WISCONSIN.
BUT IN OUR AREA, DELTA REMAINS
THE DOMINANT VARIANT.
AND TO THAT, OUR STRATEGIES
HAVEN'T CHANGED.
AGAIN, THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT
YOURSELF AGAINST THIS VARIANT
AND ALL VARIANTS IS TO GET
VACCINATED.
>> AND YET OMICRON COMING INTO
THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, I MEAN,
I HAVE READ THAT IT IS MORE
TRANSMISSIBLE AND THEN IF YOU
HAVE THAT HIGHER RATE OF
UNVACCINATED PEOPLE, THAT'S GOT
TO BE A CONCERN.
>> YES.
SO THAT IS ACTUALLY A BIG
CONCERN OF OURS.
WE EXPECT THAT EVEN IF YOU ARE
FULLY VACCINATED AND BOOSTED,
WITH OMICRON WE ARE EXPECTING
BREAKTHROUGH INFECTIONS TO OCCUR
AND WE ARE LOOKING AT THE
TRANSMISSION RATE OF OMICRON
BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT IS HIGHER.
WE'RE NOT SURE YET WHETHER OR
NOT OMICRON WILL ACTUALLY CAUSE
MORE SEVERE DISEASE AND CAUSE
MORE HOSPITALIZATIONS AT THIS
RATE.
WE'RE HOPING IT WON'T.
>> HOPING IT WON'T BECAUSE
YOU'VE ALREADY DESCRIBED HOW THE
HOSPITALS ARE AT CAPACITY OR
VERY NEAR.
ARE YOU LOOKING INTO ALTERNATIVE
PLACES TO CARE FOR PATIENTS?
>> WELL, CURRENTLY WE'RE
ACTUALLY TRYING TO TALK ABOUT
HOW TO BE MORE CREATIVE WITH THE
HOSPITAL SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE.
SO HOSPITAL SYSTEMS, IN THE PAST
IF YOU HAD TO GO TO A HOSPITAL,
YOU WOULD BE ADMITTED TO THAT
HOSPITAL AND BE THERE FOR YOUR
ENTIRE STAY.
AT THIS POINT, THAT SEEMS LIKE
THAT'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING
TO HAPPEN GOING FORWARD BECAUSE,
AGAIN, THEY'RE THINKING
CREATIVELY ABOUT HOW TO USE
STAFF AND RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY.
IF SOMEONE GOES INTO A HOSPITAL
SYSTEM RIGHT NOW, THEY MAY BE
TRANSFERRED TO A DIFFERENT
HOSPITAL BASED UPON WHETHER OR
NOT THEY GET BETTER OR WORSE.
WE'RE TRYING TO HELP PATIENTS IN
OUR AREA UNDERSTAND THAT THAT
COULD HAPPEN TO THEM.
>> WE WISH YOU LUCK AS YOU
BATTLE THIS GOING FORWARD.
LAURA SCUDIERE, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH.