June 9, 2020 10p
(WGTD)---A disturbing admission from the director of the Kenosha County Health Department as she leads the battle to get people to do their part to rein in the spread of coronavirus. Says Jen Freiheit: "The culture has changed in the community. The will is gone."
Speaking to members of the Kenosha County Board of Health Tuesday, Freiheit said that as the pandemic drags on people have become less willing to follow the recommendations. She's referring to such things as the need to practice social distancing and if need be, quarantine. "People's ears aren't hearing it anymore. I think we've 'Covided' out," she said.
Freiheit says people have become much less compliant since 'Safer at Home' was snuffed out by the state supreme court. She says staffers have encountered people who don't want to know their test results because they want to continue to go to work no matter what. "When we go to their houses, there are more and more people with barbecues and parties even though there's somebody positive living in the house," she said.
Taking into account the changing attitudes, the department is in the process of coming up with a 'harm reduction' strategy that relies less on testing and contact tracing.
Freiheit is scheduled to give her weekly COVID-19 update to the community Wednesday night at 7:30. Anyone with a phone can listen in. The phone number is 408-418-9388. The access code is 960 672 505.
A half-dozen new deaths from the coronavirus were reported Tuesday in the Kenosha/Racine area. Four in Racine County brought that county's total to 51. With two additional deaths, Kenosha County's total is 36.
According to numbers from the state, 28 new cases have been reported in Racine County, nine in Kenosha County and 12 in Walworth County.
Statewide, 15 COVID-19 patients have died since Monday, and 270 new cases have been reported.
Hospitalizations, while dropping a bit in recent days, have remained between 300 and 400.
One sliver of good news…the percent of test results coming back positive was at 1.9%, the lowest number since the outbreak began.
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