COVID-19 Pandemic Update for the Afternoon of March 30th: Neillsville Emergency Order and New Partnerships
Monday, March 30th, 2020 -- 1:54 PM
COVID-19 UpdateMarch 30th, Afternoon
We have a COVID-19 update for you this afternoon.
The City of Neillsville has issued an emergency order regarding employee leave. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the orders from the federal and state government, and the city’s State of Emergency Declaration, the city of Neillsville has issued an emergency order granting city employees a bank of additional paid leave days for employees to use if they are impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak and unable to work or telecommute. The days can only be used during the public health emergency and will last as long as the emergency. It can only be lifted by another resolution declaring so. City employees are being granted 80 hours of public health leave and the city’s children’s librarian can use 64 hours.
(WDLB) -Gov. Tony Evers today announced a new public-private partnership among Wisconsin industry leaders to increase Wisconsin's laboratory testing capacity for COVID-19. The new partnership now includes laboratory support from Marshfield Clinic Health System and three others. These organizations, along with the Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network, will now share knowledge, resources, and technology to bolster Wisconsin’s testing capacity. Prior to today's announcement, the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and the Milwaukee Public Health Lab were leading the Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network labs to bring additional COVID-19 testing online. The Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network labs have been averaging completion of 1,500-2,000 COVID-19 tests per day. The expanded capacity from the state’s new public-private partnership is expected to double that capacity initially and continue to expand as additional platforms and supplies become available.
“Marshfield Clinic Health System believes collaboration is at the core of overcoming the challenges COVID-19 is presenting our communities”, according to Dr. Susan Turney, Marshfield Clinic C-E-O. She says the Clinic has the ability to test for COVID-19, and turn results around within a day or less. Residents who are seeking a COVID-19 test are still required to receive an order from a doctor.
And as a reminder, we, like all of you, are being inundated with information regarding the coronavirus outbreak. We encourage you to head to our website and Facebook page to see all the information we have available for you. We have some information right in the yellow box at the top of our homepage and you can look through our archives for information we’ve received over the past couple weeks. Also, you can scroll through our Facebook page to see all the posts. Taking a look at the state numbers as of this afternoon, that state has 15,856 negative tests, 1,221 positive cases and 14 deaths. Clark County still has 3 positive cases. For our neighboring counties, Chippewa has 7, Eau Claire has 10, Jackson now has 2, Wood has 2 and Marathon has 2. Even with the “Safer at Home” order and social distancing, Wisconsin’s cases continue to rise, but there are two reasons behind that. The first is that tests have become more readily available. The second is that many of the cases that are coming back positive now were tested before the governor’s orders were put into place. Wisconsin is under a “Safer at Home” order, which asks all residents to avoid unnecessary travel. You can still go to the grocery store or pharmacy, get gas, get dinner from a local business, work in the yard, walk the dog, ride a bike, etc.; just practice social distancing when you do so.
Finally, just a reminder, people need to take this seriously. This falls on all of us. If people don’t take this seriously, things are going to get much worse. The sooner you follow the guidance of the CDC and the state, the sooner we can get Wisconsin back open for business and get things back to normal. But you must take this seriously. We must put aside petty partisan politics and work together. This is a trying time, but we will get through it with the right mindset and if we work together and help each other along during these difficult times. If there’s anything we can do at Central Wisconsin Broadcasting to help, please reach out. We have many resources available to you on our website and Facebook page and were happy to answer your questions. If we can’t, we can put you in touch with someone that can. But above all, stay calm, buy your groceries one week at a time like always and take care of yourself.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.