KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha County has seen a 20 percent spike in COVID-19 cases since the Safer at Home order ended in Wisconsin. Now health leaders are urging people to take precautions to help change the growing number of cases.
“My message for tonight is really to just implore Kenosha County residents that this is not business as usual. We are still very much on the rise,” said Dr. Jen Freiheit, interim health officer of Kenosha County.
Since March, a total of 1,061 people in Kenosha County have tested positive. 24 people have died of coronavirus.
Now, health officials are monitoring multiple outbreaks at local bars and restaurants.
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“Today, alone, we saw several dining and drinking establishments that had seven positive cases. So these are employees of these dining and drinking establishments that are positive. And this is sort of the scenario that public health was afraid of,” said Freiheit.
Health leaders are also concerned about contact tracing, noting the difficulty of tracking down the potentially hundreds of people who came into contact with the bar and dining workers who are now COVID-19 positive.
Officials are also seeing an outbreak at a senior care facility. Six people have died at The Bay at Sheridan in Kenosha. The facility says everyone is now being tested for the virus.
“The virus is still here and we very much want to help control and contain it,” said Freiheit.
Health leaders are urging people to wear masks when you are in public and continue to maintain social distancing. They plan to open up a new testing facility run by the National Guard next week that will test anyone. You can just show up and you won’t need an appointment or even have to be a Wisconsin resident.