County COVID-19 cases soar past 100
Hospitalizations higher but remain relatively low
The number of COVID-19 cases in Marathon County has dramatically increased, doubling the number of active cases, according to Judy Burrows, public health information officer for the county health department.
On June 19, the county passed the 100-case mark and, since then, new cases continue to be confirmed at a pace of four or five per day. The count as of Monday was 115. “Until now, we have seen a relatively slow but steady increase in cases,” stated Burrows. “This two week period for us has been record breaking.”
Burrows said the sharp increase in cases has not, as yet, resulted in a major increase in people hospitalized due to a COVID-19 infection. Last week, the county had 11 hospitalizations. That number has increased to 17. The county, as of Monday, still had a single death caused by the disease.
Burrows said the slow growth in hospitalization is likely due to a greater percentage of new cases showing up in younger people, who are more able than older people to fight off the disease.
“In the month of June, the number of cases of COVID-19 continue to increase each week,” she said. “For Marathon County, 10-39 year olds account for 58 percent of all cases, having 25 percent of cases among 20-29 year olds. Ninety-one (91) percent of hospitalizations are individuals between the ages of 30-69 years of age, having 38 percent of hospitalizations among 60-69 year olds.”
Burrows cautioned against seeing too much of a pattern in these statistics. She said there is much about COVID-19 that remains unknown.
“Data tells us what has already happened; it does not definitively tell us what will happen in the future,” she said. “We can use it to try to forecast the future and need to be mindful that this is a novel virus, and we continue to monitor the data and do our best to make decisions based on what has happened.”
With this recent spurt in cases, Marathon County has experienced more COVID- 19 cases than other northcentral Wisconsin counties Total number of reported in bordering counties as of Monday:
_ Portage, 86 _ Wood, 29 _ Clark, 56 _ Lincoln, 8 _ Langlade, 7 _ Taylor, 8 _ Shawano, 66.
To avoid getting or spreading the disease, the Marathon County Health Department encourages residents to stay home when sick. If they are not sick, limit their contacts with other people, travel only within their home community, and avoid mass gatherings and gatherings where physical distancing cannot be attained.
