DRIFTLESS - Over the past week COVID-19 diagnoses statewide increased from 55,328 on Monday, August 3 to 61,061 on Monday, August 10. That is a statewide increase of 5,733 cases. The number of deaths increased from 949 to 998, an additional 49 deaths, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The DHS’ Badger Bounce Back COVID-19 Case Indicators, which classify counties as high-, moderate- or low-risk based on COVID activity over the previous two weeks, listed Crawford, Grant, Juneau, LaCrosse, Lafayette and Monroe counties as ‘high’ risk; Iowa and Richlandcounties as ‘moderately high risk,’ and Vernon as ‘moderate risk.’

According to the Monday, August 10 issue of the Up North News, coming off a weekend that included the state's highest single-day total of new COVID-19 cases, the usual lower numbers in each week's Monday report from the Dept. of Health Services shouldn't be the cause of any undue optimism. The 507 new cases are less than half of the 1,165 reported on Saturday.

The state report shows 998 deaths from the outbreak, though more recent local updates have unofficially pushed Wisconsin's death toll above 1,000.

For the weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday reports), there were 2,293 new coronavirus infections confirmed, making up a relatively high 8% of all tests processed. There were 101 new hospitalizations, and current DHS figures show 352 current patients, 98 in intensive care.

The U.S. death toll reached 163,000 on Monday.

Crawford Countysaw 11 new cases, increasing to 74. The number of negative tests increased by 195, and there have been no deaths in the county.

The Crawford County Pub1ic Health  Department, Emergency Management and the Wisconsin Nationa] Guard  are hosting a drive-through COVID-19 testing site at the Seneca  Town Hall, located at 21041 Town Hall Road, Seneca, on August  14,  from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This community COVID-19 testing  event is open to all Crawford County  residents and those in our surrounding communities (age five and older) who are experiencing one or more symptoms of COVID-19, and for asymptomatic individuals per Public Health recommendation.  Symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild and include fever, new loss of taste and/or smell, cough, nausea, shortness of breath, vomiting, chills, abdominal pain, musc1e aches/pain, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, sore throat, and runny nose.

National Guard and Crawford County Public Health staff are planning for the maximum number of tests (500) to be uti1ized and available at the testing site.   If more than this amount of testing is needed, another day and time will be scheduled for further testing.

Testing will be done by nasal swab, and there is no cost to participate. The Crawford County Public Health staff will follow-up on positive results of testing 3-5 days after the event.  The Wisconsin National Guard will follow-up on negative resu1ts of testing in the same amount  of time.

Vernon Countysaw an increase of six cases in the last week, increasing to 65. The number of negative tests increased by 494, and there have been no deaths.

Richland Countysaw an increase of five cases, increasing to 37. The number of negative tests increased by 206, and the number of deaths in the county remained at four.

Monroe Countysaw an increase of 15 cases in the last week, going from 225 to 240. Negative tests increased by 805, and the number of deaths in the county has increased to two.

Juneau Countysaw an increase in cases of five, growing to 143. The number of deaths in the county remains at two.

LaCrosse Countyhas continued to see an exponential increase in new cases in the last week of 78, going from 835 to 913. There has been one death in the county.

On Friday, the LaCrosse County Public Health Department held a press conference with County Administrator Steve O’Malley, Dr. Mueller of Mayo Health Systems, and Dr. Rathgaber of Gundersen Health Systens. In that press conference, Public Health Director Jennifer Rombalski announced that the county would be discontinuing use of the ‘Coulee COVID Compass,’ because it was not a refined enough tool to do the best job of helping LaCrosse and other surrounding counties understand their risk from COVID-19. Instead, the county plans to announce the use of a new tool later this week.

Grant Countyhas seen an increase of 34 cases in the last week, going from 328 to 362. The number of deaths in the county has increased by one to 15.

Lafayette Countyhas seen an increase of 34 cases in the last week, going from 113 to 147. There have been no deaths in the county. 

Iowa Countyhas seen an increase of 17 cases in the last week, increasing to 82. There have been no deaths in the county.