Dr. Hall - COVID cases continue to rise

Weekly update for Dunn County - cases continue to rise. Community Levels are updated once weekly, on Thursdays, so we're still Yellow. Fortunately, we aren't seeing a lot of hospitalizations, but state-wide and in neighboring Chippewa county, they are going up again. Still nowhere near the winter, but worth watching. We haven't had any deaths in many weeks, which is a relief. Cases are distributed fairly equally among age groups - it's truly everywhere right now. Due to decent numbers in the 70+ group, we're likely in for some hospitalizations, as those 65+ or with immune system problems are the most likely to be hospitalized, particularly (but not exclusively) if they're unvaccinated or haven't had their boosters. Please make sure the medically vulnerable people in your life have had their boosters, and consider being careful around them right now if you're not taking precautions in general when out and about (mask, test, distance, etc. when you're going to be with them). Also continue to be careful if you have an important upcoming event that you don't want to have to miss. Those who had Omicron back in January or February have been well protected so far, but we're at the 90 day mark for many folks, so re-infection with BA.2 Omicron can happen, especially if you had only a mild case back in the winter. In other states that started this surge before us, it's been a slow steady climb, with hospitalization rates far lower than was seen in the winter. That's likely to be the case for us. So, if you are vaccinated and boosted, are not regularly in contact with someone who is very high-risk, don't have a particularly important event coming up, and aren't too worried about long Covid, it's fine to stay mask-free. Your risk of getting infected is high (if you are out and about a lot), but your risk of complications from that infection is low.