COVID-19 roundup for Nov. 14, 2020

There are many news stories about the pandemic to cover, and although much of it is better than the recent reports, the general picture in the Chippewa Valley is still not rosy.

Friday night the Eau Claire School District announced that they are moving to a full virtual learning model beginning Monday, Nov. 30. In a statement issued yesterday, Superintendent Michael Johnson wrote:

“I’m extremely proud of our staff and students for their safety efforts and their ability to maintain the consistency of our instructional model to this point. Although disease transmission has not occurred in our schools, the community surge of the virus and the increasing number of positive and quarantined staff require us to transition to our 100% virtual instructional model until we can safely staff our schools.”

The COVID-19 numbers reported by the state today are less disturbing than they have been for the last several days, with 5146 new cases reported for the state, and 52 new deaths. 181 new hospitalizations were reported in Wisconsin and the percent of positive cases fell to 27%, which is still alarmingly high, but less so than for the past few days. 

Dunn County reported its second death in today's numbers, and 84 new confirmed cases. There was no video update from the Dunn County Health Department as usual on Friday, but the main photograph in this article is this week's statistical graphic. In Eau Claire County 84 new cases were in today's report, along with 5 new deaths. 

The Eau Claire City/County Health Department released a new situation report Friday on the pandemic, which is attached below. The report provides many detailed statistics on the cases in Eau Claire County along with information on hospital utilization and contact tracing efforts.

The county also issued a new report on expectations for county residents for safety precautions. This is an extension of the previously-released set of expectations. This provides guidance for businesses and individuals on best practices to avoid illness. Some of the most important points include:

Some of the expectations of Eau Claire County residents include:

• Stay at home as much as possible

• Avoid gatherings of any size with people who are not in your immediate family or household

• Keep 6 ft distance and wear a cloth face covering when you are in public spaces

• Stay home when sick Some of the expectations for businesses and other entities open to the public include:

• Reduce occupancy to 50% and keep 6 ft between households in public spaces and businesses

• Establish policies that prohibit social activities that promote close contact (dancing, close contact sports, some performances)

• Adopt policies that actively support employees who are required to quarantine or isolate to stay home

• Avoid meeting in person as much as possible

Some of the expectations for public and private gatherings include:

• Being less than 10 people not including people of the same household

• Avoid gatherings of more than one household for socialization purposes

• Use assigned or fixed seating and document contact information of attendees

The full document on community expectations is attached at the end of the article.