New cases of COVID-19 matched recoveries since Thursday as reported in the daily update by the Sheboygan County Division of Public Health, and the active case count remained at 80 on Friday. 4 new cases were logged as 4 more persons recovered, and 13,787 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Sheboygan County since the start of the pandemic here in mid-March last year. Hospitalizations, which had reached a monthly high of 6 yesterday, declined by two today, with 4 persons now requiring treatment for their bout with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services received 406 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Thursday, raising the confirmed case count to 607,992. 8 more deaths due to the disease were recorded, and the toll now stands at 6,986. Another 76 persons entered hospitals for treatment, and after accounting for deaths and discharges, the Wisconsin Hospitals Association reports a net drop of 7 COVID patients statewide. 262 are now hospitalized in Wisconsin for treatment of a coronavirus infection, 76 of those in ICU beds. 395 persons statewide currently require ventilators for survival.
As of Friday’s tabulation by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 45% of Sheboygan County residents have received at least one shot of vaccine, and since Thursday, 399 more Sheboygan County residents have been fully vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 45,493 in all, amounting to 39.4% of the population.
As Sheboygan County has now been downgraded to a “Medium” activity level, with a burden of 66.4 cases per 100,000 persons, the County DPH acknowledges that it is tempting to believe that the pandemic is nearly over. At the same time, however, they emphasize that we are not yet “out of the woods”, and that the best way to keep current favorable trends continuing is to get vaccinated. Real-world studies, they say, indicate that the vaccines are greater than 90% effective in preventing mild and severe disease, hospitalization and death. Additionally, current vaccines appear to be effective against the variants that have arrived locally. Masking remains an effective measure against the spread of the coronavirus, especially among those who have not yet been fully vaccinated, but for those who have completed their course of shots, masking is no longer necessary in most settings. Still, individual businesses, health facilities and some municipalities are authorized to enforce their own masking rules for the time being and even fully-vaccinated persons should comply.
The Sheboygan County DPH has been offering several community walk-in vaccination clinics around the county, and the next of those will be at Paradigm Coffee and Music at 1202 North 8th Street in Sheboygan on Monday, May 24th from 1-6 PM. The vaccine is free to everyone, and those 18 and older are welcome. If that doesn’t work for you, the County DPH will help you schedule an appointment through the Vaccine Hotline at 920-395,9890. That number can also be used to schedule a homebound appointment for those who are unable to leave home to receive their vaccination.
