COVID in Kenosha: Small Group Gatherings Still Potentially Problematic

June 24, 2020 10:45p

(WGTD)---In Kenosha County, the COVID-19 curve appears to be as flat as it's going to get, at least until a vaccine comes along.

That's the prediction of Kenosha County Health Dept. Dir. Jen Freiheit.

In a telephone briefing open to the community Wednesday evening, Freiheit says she expects to see between five and 20 new cases a day for the foreseeable future. "What we thought would be this perfect projection model--this curve that we would come off of..we are really going to remain in this stabilized, static mode of a continuous amount of positives that will present every single day," she said.

The number of hospitalizations in Kenosha County has dropped but is remaining steady. The number of patients on Wednesday was 11, she said.

Kenosha County has had 1,441 confirmed cases with several hundred known, suspected cases. Over 15,000 tests have come back negative. 42 people have died.

Another noteworthy point from Wednesday's briefing serves as a warning to people who might think the danger of catching the bug has faded over time. The department is investigating spread from small group gatherings, such as barbecues, baby showers, sleepovers and birthday parties. "Even though they're smaller gatherings, everything has to do with how much time we're spending with people outside of our family---and how there could be potentially positive people in that group who are completely asymptomatic," Freiheit said. "It's just something to be mindful of."

Although the demand for testing seems to have faded a bit statewide, 1,163 people were tested for the virus by guardsmen who set up shop for two days this week at Kenosha's Municipal Building, according to Freiheit. Another 1,650 people have been tested over 26 business days at the Kenosha Community Health Center testing site at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha.

Both the state and Kenosha County have abandoned the six-step gating criteria format that was established during Gov. Ever's Safer at Home plan which was nullified in late May by the state supreme court. The six criteria for reopening were never completely met, either statewide or locally.

Both Kenosha County and the state offers additional charts and graphs on their websites.

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