WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Marathon County is now classified as having “substantial risk for COVID-19 transmission,” and local health officials are encouraging residents to break their face coverings back out in public regardless of vaccination status.
The guidance comes one week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for counties at high risk for transmission of the Delta variant of COVID-19 to reconsider mask guidance. The federal organization also recommends fully vaccinated people who have a known exposure to someone who is suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 be tested three to five days after exposure, and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.
Tuesday’s announcement was only a suggestion, as County health officials have no current plans to make face coverings mandatory.
Health Department Public Information Officer Aaron Ruff says the best way for COVID-19 cases to go back down in Marathon County is to get vaccinated. “If you’re over the age of 12 and you are able to get vaccinated, please get vaccinated if you haven’t already. That is the number 1 prevention measure for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“There’s still plenty of vaccinations here in Marathon County. All of our local healthcare partners have vaccines, local pharmacies. We have a community COVID vaccination clinic at Northcentral Technical College that’s still open on Tuesdays and Fridays where you can walk in and get your COVID vaccine.
“And what we’re seeing is that 99.9% of COVID cases in Wisconsin are of unvaccinated people. So we know vaccine prevents sickness, hospitalization, and death. It will help stop the spread of COVID-19 and we know that to be true. If you haven’t gotten your vaccine yet, we strongly encourage you to do so. That’s really what’s going to get us to level where we can see our case numbers go back down.”
The Marathon County Health Department says there were 58 active cases during the last week in July, up from 40 cases the prior week. Hospitalizations increase from 3 to 7 during the same period.
In Marathon County, 47% of residents have taken at least one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and 45% are considered to be fully vaccinated. Those numbers are below the state average.
The Lincoln County Health Department released a similar release on Tuesday as well. Health officials in Lincoln County say 31 people tested positive for COVID-19 from July 19th to August 3rd of 2021. Breakthrough infections have remained low as only 4 individuals were fully vaccinated. The release goes on to say, “During this timeframe, over half of the COVID-19 infections have occurred in individuals under the age of 30. Two individuals have been hospitalized during this time period; both were unvaccinated.”
