Back in the yellow again - Dr. Hall

Weekly update for Dunn County - we're back to yellow (as expected) but things are stable. As expected, our Community Level has gone back up to Yellow/Medium. Last week's green status was mostly due to the vagaries of how CDC times their weekly stats and how that lined up with when people were hospitalized. Overall, hospitalizations are slightly up for the region, in part likely due to a higher than typical case rate in people aged 70+, who are at highest risk for hospitalization. We shall have to watch and see if that comes back down. Overall, transmission is still high, so the same advice applies - there's a lot of COVID going around, so if you want to avoid the risk of getting it, masking in crowded, indoor locations and taking other measures makes sense. Remember, too, if you are age 65+ or at higher risk for complications due to medical problems and you test positive for COVID, contact your medical provider to ask if Paxlovid would be right for you.Nationally and state-wide, the BA.5 wave seems to have peaked in most places. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next several weeks, with schools restarting. We may get a second surge, or, if enough people have already been infected this go-round, we may not. I'm anticipating at least a small surge, especially when the college students return. There will certainly be more infections - a big question is how many of them will get diagnosed and reported. This year, our area campuses are not providing free on-site rapid testing clinics for students, staff, and community members (students can get an appointment at health services to get tested, but there is not a convenient test-only option). This is understandable, as such programs are very costly, but it will increase the barrier to getting tested for many folks. It will be interesting to see what the next month brings.