By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
October 17, 2020

This very lengthy article provides the following information:

• Updated data on case incidence and positivity in Walworth County and Whitewater. Walworth’s case incidence has significantly declined, in no small part due to declining cases at UW-W. However, with a 7-day case incidence of 25.9, the county is still considered to barely be “very high risk” under the Jefferson County model that Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD) is no longer using as guidance. Whitewater’s case incidence, 24.0, is now essentially mirroring that of Walworth County. Meanwhile, Jefferson County is currently reporting an extraordinarily high 7-day case incidence rate of 56. The statewide case incidence is reported to be 44.9.
• WUSD’s current data, which indicates that since September 1 there have been twelve positive cases among students and three staff members. In-person classes resumed fulltime for 4K – 5th grade on September 28; grades 6-12 began a hybrid model on October 12.
• UWWs current data, showing that last week there were only eight students and two staff with positive PCR tests. In the initial four weeks of the semester there had been a total of 371 students and 15 others. In the past three weeks there have been 39 students and 5 others with positive PCR tests.
• Erica Bergstrom, MPH, Walworth County Health Officer, included this note in the county’s Oct. 15 COVID update: “Since March of 2020 Walworth County Public Health staff have managed more than 30,000 COVID-19 test results and 111 COVID-19 outbreaks, this is thousands more communicable disease reports than are typically seen in this county in a year, let alone 7 months. If you interact with a local public health employee please give them your thanks; be they from Walworth County or anywhere else in the state. Their work is difficult and often underappreciated. They’ve maintained dignity and grace in very trying times.  Thank you local public health staff.”
• Per this state website, Walworth County has a “high” COVID activity level, and Jefferson and Rock Counties have “very high” levels. The state as a whole is currently rated in the “very high” activity level. Per the state, “COVID-19 remains very contagious and most people in Wisconsin are still at risk of getting sick from the virus.”
  
  

DAILY CASE INCIDENCE PER 100,000 PEOPLE – WALWORTH COUNTY

End Date	New cases/14 days	Incidence	New cases/7 days	Incidence
9/15	527	38.8	403	59.2
9/22	648	47.7	245	36
9/29	379	27.9	134	19.7
10/5	302	22.2	176	25.9
10/16	308	22.6	176	25.9

DAILY CASE INCIDENCE PER 100,00 PEOPLE – CITY OF WHITEWATER (WALWORTH COUNTY PORTION)

End Date	New cases/14 days	Incidence	New cases/7 days	Incidence
9/15	345	206.8	284	340.4
9/22	419	251.1	132	158.1
9/29	180	107.9	48	57.6
10/17	42	25.1	20	24.0

TEST POSITIVITY RESULTS – CITY OF WHITEWATER (WALWORTH COUNTY PORTION)

End Date	# Tests Reported – 14 days	# Positive	Positivity %	# Tests Reported – 7 days	#Positive	Positivity %
8/22	216	27	12.5%	103	6	5.8%
8/29	240	19	7.9%	128	13	9.2%
9/7	421	77	18.3%	274	60	21.9%
9/20	958	404	42.2%	571	204	35.7%
9/29	663	180	27.1%	236	48	20.3%
10/17	175	42	24.0%	80	20	25.0%

TEST POSITIVITY RESULTS – WALWORTH COUNTY

End Date	# Tests Reported – 14 days	#Positive	Positivity %	# Tests Reported – 7 days	# Positive	Positivity %	% of Those with Positive Results Who Reported being Asymptomatic	Total Deaths
8/22	2386	277	11.6%	1071	112	10.5%	11.4%	25
8/29	1972	210	10.6%	901	98	10.9%	11.1%	27
9/7	1953	228	11.7%	986	129	13.1%	10.9%	32
9/22	2689	648	24.1%	1249	245	19.6%	9.7%	34
9/29	2504	379	15.1%	1255	134	10.7%	9.75%	35
10/5	2189	302	13.8%	864	176	25.6%	9.49%	35
10/16	1803	308	14.6%	1142	176	15.4%	9.47%	36

WUSD is providing the following “COVID Tracking Data” on its website at this link.

COVID TRACKING DATA

On September 23, 2020 the WUSD School Board voted to suspend the utilization of a community level metric.

Below is the cumulative and current number of close contact, symptomatic, COVID positive staff and students.

District COVID Tracking Data Sept 1 – October 14 (updated October 15)
		Cumulative	October 14
STAFF
	Close Contact Positive Person	24	5
	Showing Symptoms	30	0
	Tested COVID-Positive	3	1
	Total Quarantined Staff	57
STUDENTS	Close Contact Positive Person	78	19
	Showing Symptoms	122	44
	Tested COVID-Positive	12	3
	Total Quarantined Students	212
	Totals	Number of Positive COVID Cases	15
	Number of Days of School	32

UWW has established the following dashboard which provides useful information. It is found at this link.

COVID-19 Dashboard

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ever-changing situation and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater actively monitors and reviews a series of health, safety, and resource metrics to guide decision-making with regard to university operations. These metrics are considered in combination and consultation with recommendations and orders from the state and county health departments before any changes in operations are made.

Last Updated 10/16/2020 at 8:15 AM

COVID-19 cases reported to UW-Whitewater

	New reports – Week of Oct. 11 – Oct. 17	Previous week	Cumulative reports since March 2020
Students	8	15	418
Employees	2	1	18
Other	0	0	3
Unknown	0	0	0

Dashboard is updated on business days with available data. Numbers include cases reported through university-coordinated testing, as well as those reported through the COVID-19 Hotline, which may include testing that occurred off-campus through other health clinics/providers. Student employees are counted in the student numbers. The “Other” category is defined as any positive cases reported to UW-Whitewater who are neither students nor employees and may include visitors to the university, contractors or vendors, or others who have been to the university in person.  These numbers represent individuals who have had direct contact with the campuses.  Individuals who are working or attending solely in a remote manner and not living in University Housing are not included.

Regional Metrics

	University Health and Counseling Services (10/1-10/15)	Walworth County (9/29-10/12)	Rock County (9/30-10/13)	Jefferson County	Wisconsin (7-day average)
Percent Positive	24% (30/126*)	11.40%	21.81%	19.8%	20.8%
Time to complete contact tracing	100% of contacts are initiated within 48 hours**	95% of contacts are initiated within 48 hours	49% of contacts are initiated within 48 hours	Not Available	N/A
Healthcare system capacity level	No crisis management of care	No crisis management of care	No crisis management of care	Not Available	16% Available (Based on Immediate Bed Availability)
Total cases per 100,000	n/a	321.6	573.4	631.8	627.9

*UHCS percentage positive is based on PCR testing performed at the University Clinic site of students only.  Case totals are represented by (Total Positives/Total PCR Tests)

**To avoid duplication, UHCS actively partners with Walworth, Rock, and Jefferson Health Departments.  County Health Departments do tracing of positive cases and UHCS employees do tracing of contact cases. 

Previous 7 days of PCR Tests Administered

PCR* Test Date	# of PCR Tests Administered
10/7/20	8
10/8/20	9
10/9/20	7
10/12/20	6
10/13/20	5
10/14/20	6
10/15/20	4

*PCR testing is conducted on symptomatic individuals and individuals with positive Antigen testing results.

Total All PCR Tests	# of PCR Negative	# of PCR Positive	Percentage Positive
922	706	249	26.1%

Previous 7 days of Antigen Testing Administered

Antigen* Test Date	# of Antigen Tests Administered	# of Antigen Negative Results	# of Antigen Positive Results	Percentage Positive
10/7/20	99	98	1	1.0%
10/8/20	60	58	2	3.4%
10/9/20	60	60	0	0.0%
10/12/20	123	123	0	0.0%
10/13/20	159	157	2	1.3%
10/14/20	62	62	0	0.0%
10/15/20	69	67	2	3.0%
Total All Antigen Tests	2,223	2,161	62	2.9%

*Antigen testing is conducted on asymptomatic and random volunteers.