Additional Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Washburn County

News Release

WASHBURN COUNTY -- The Washburn County Health Department has confirmed two additional cases of COVID-19 in Washburn County. The first new case occurred in an asymptomatic individual, identified through asymptomatic testing for a hospital procedure. Testing prior to hospital procedures is a standard COVID-19 safety practice. This case brings the Washburn County total COVID-19 cases to five (5).

The second new case occurred in an individual who was visiting our county. The individual was notified of an exposure that occurred prior to travel, subsequently became ill, and was tested in Washburn County. Any close contacts in Washburn County have been notified. Since this individual’s permanent residence is not in our county, this case will not be included in our case count. We are sharing this information in the interest of public awareness.

Change in Future Public Notification

Moving forward, the Washburn County Health Department will no longer announce via news release new cases of COVID-19 except to inform the community of risk of exposure from a new case or unless we see an alarming increase in cases that suggests sustained community transmission and/or a spike. To see daily counts of cases in Washburn County, we recommend visiting the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) COVID-19 County Data page at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/county.htm.

Important information and updates about COVID-19 in Washburn County can also be found on our Coronavirus Outbreak page, linked at the end. New cases will be announced as a COVID-19 update post on our Health Department Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WashburnCoHealthDept/

Preventing COVID-19

We strongly urge the public to continue wearing cloth face masks or coverings when in public places where social distancing of six (6) feet or more is difficult or not possible. Cloth masks act as a physical barrier to prevent respiratory droplets from entering the air when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Wearing masks helps protect our local businesses and their employees, as well as the large proportion of high-risk individuals in Washburn County. Wearing a mask DOES NOT reduce your immune system’s function, increase carbon dioxide to a level that would be noticeable by the wearer, or mean that you do not need to continue social distancing and good hand hygiene.

With no medicine or vaccine to treat or prevent COVID-19, Washburn County residents can take these steps to reduce their risk:

• Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer if you cannot wash your hands.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Dispose of the tissue after using, and then wash your hands.
• Practice social distancing of 6 feet or more
• Avoid large gatherings with individuals outside of your household, especially gatherings that are indoors.