County COVID-19 new case record crushed as schools close


Cars lined up at the community COVID-19 testing site held in Galesville at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Middle School on Saturday. There were 131 tests issued with seven positive results as of Monday morning. The event was hosted by the Trempealeau County Health Department and Wisconsin Army National Guard.             (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)

After barely eclipsing the previous record of new COVID-19 cases last week, Trempealeau County blew that mark out of the water, forcing the closure of some area schools in the process.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, there were 98 new COVID-19 cases last week, smashing the previous record of 62 set two weeks ago. A new positivity rate record was also set as 21.3 percent of county residents who were tested last week received positive results. The previous record for positivity rate was 17 percent, set in early July.

The increase in cases led to two schools being closed for students as the Arcadia School District switched to remote learning for all grades, while Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau closed its high school. Arcadia has more than 150 students being quarantined as it plans an Oct. 12 return to class. G-E-T is planning a return for Oct. 19.

District representatives have indicated that none of the positive cases have been transferred on school property. More information on both districts can be found elsewhere in this week’s Times.

Information released by the Trempealeau County Health Department last week showed an increase of 15 cases amongst school-aged individuals (ages five to 19). There have been 31 new cases in that age range since school resumed on Aug. 27.

New cases increased by double digits in nearly every portion of the county, according to the DHS. The Arcadia and Galesville areas saw the most new cases, both with 14, while Whitehall had 13, Trempealeau, Blair and Eleva/Strum had 11, Independence had nine and Osseo had seven. The DHS website did not have location information for the other eight new cases as of Monday afternoon.

Last Thursday, the county health department issued an advisory for people who attended “Nacho Cheese Fest” in Blair. The health department reported that two people who tested positive said they were at the celebration while they were contagious. The celebration replaced Blair’s annual Cheese Fest. It was hosted by city tavern owners and approved by the Blair city council.

Since the reporting parties couldn’t identify everyone they were in contact with at the event, the health department said that anyone who was at the celebration or any of the participating businesses in Blair on Sept. 18-20 should consider themselves “medium” risk and avoid any non-essential activities until Oct. 5.  

In addition to the record number of new cases, the county health department reported that two people are currently hospitalized and, as of late last week, there were 165 active cases.

 

 

Special Sections

Comment Here