By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
February 5, 2021

In December the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, for the first time, started providing COVID-19 data for each municipality and school district in the state. This is particularly helpful for Whitewater, as the previous information that was enumerated by census tract did not isolate the portion of the city that is located in Jefferson County. The ten new local cases for the seven days ending February 5 is the lowest number since the city-specific data has been available, and undoubtedly reflect the lowest level of reported confirmed infections in many months. Seventeen new cases were confirmed in the school district.

However, per WISN-12, “State health officials said Tuesday (Feb. 2) they are concerned about the potential for new COVID-19 strains entering Wisconsin and the impact they may have on the state’s vaccination efforts. ‘We can continue to see our vaccine rate rising but if we get one of these highly transmissible variants in our state, we could see a surge even with a vaccination rate in the 30, 40 or 50%,’ Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said. Neither the South Africa or Brazil variants have been detected in Wisconsin, which health officials say are more transmissible.”

The information that is currently being provided on the UW-W COVID-19 Dashboard does not permit the determination of the number of new cases identified among students, faculty, and staff during the past seven days. The Banner has requested clarification.

Thirty-three deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in the city, an increase of two from our last report, two weeks ago; thirty-seven have been reported in the school district. It is believed that the majority of the deaths that have been reported in the city have taken place in senior residences.

Rapid testing is now being offered at the UW-W Community Engagement Center (formerly Sentry Grocery Store), Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Persons who want to receive a rapid-results test – available in about 15 minutes – should register at  doineedacovid19test.com or call 1-800-635-8611. Those who test positive through the rapid-results test are urged to get a confirmatory PCR test. Individuals do not have to be experiencing symptoms or be a close contact of someone with COVID-19 to get a test, nor do they need to live in the community where the testing site is located. Please note: The testing site will be closed Wednesday, Feb. 10, due to a blood drive that day.

New daily confirmed cases reported as an average over the last 7 days and rate per 100,000 population:

City of Whitewater	Average new daily cases	Rate per 100,000 population
12/5	7.14	48.4
12/12	10.57	71.6
12/21	4.29	29.1
12/28	3.00	20.3
1/4	1.57	10.6
1/11	3.57	24.2
1/19	1.57	10.6
2/5	1.43	9.7
Whitewater Unified School District
12/5	9.29	46.1
12/12	13.14	65.2
12/21	5.00	23.4
12/28	4.57	22.7
1/4	3.00	14.9
1/11	5.00	24.8
1/19	1.86	9.2
2/5	2.43	12.10

Rates per 100,000 population for selected municipalities based on past 7 days as of date shown

	12/12	12/21	12/28	1/4	1/11	1/19	2/5
Madison	35.1	25.8	24.3	27.9	38.9	23.1	24
Jefferson	39.4	43.1	46.6	55.6	53.9	26.9	16.2
Palmyra	49.5	40.9	24.8	57.6	24.8	16.7	16.7
Fort Atkinson	50.6	52.9	25.3	50.6	50.6	39.1	20.7
Jefferson County	53	42.2	33.4	45.4	52.0	33.6	20.9
Entire state of WI	65	61.4*	51.3**	40.1***	38.5 ****	44.4 @	24.1 @@
Milton	66.5	17.9	20.4	89.7	69.2	38.4	10.2
Walworth County	67.5	49.4	31.9	34.4	50.3	21.2	14.3
Milwaukee	67.8	53.4	30.1	34.5	43.7	31.6	19.1
Rock County	67.8	50.1	33.5	40.4	45.9	31.8	21.5
Whitewater	71.6	29.1	20.3	10.6	24.2	10.6	9.7
Elkhorn	73.6	56.2	33.2	27.4	46.1	18.8	5.8
Janesville	78	60.4	34.8	35.0	41.9	29.8	27.4
Cambridge	80	45.6	0	45.6	56.8	11.2	56.8

*The statewide rate is for the past 14 days. ** Statewide rate for the 14 days ending 12/22 ***14 days ending 12/29 **** 14 days ending 1/5/21 @ 14 days ending 1/12/21 @@ 14 days ending 2/2/21