County COVID spike continues

The number of new COVID-19 cases took another big jump last week as the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 175 new cases in Trempealeau County.

That is an increase of 55 from two weeks ago, continuing the steady increase in cases that began in mid-July. 

Despite a mask mandate for elementary students and staff, residents of the Blair-Taylor School District were hit hardest with 44 new cases. Residents in G-E-T saw 39 new cases compared to 18 in Whitehall, 17 in Arcadia and six in Independence — the only district in the area that has had a district wide mask mandate since the start of the school year. 

The Trempealeau County Health Department reported another increase in cases amongst school-aged (five-to-19) residents, reporting 48 new cases from Sept. 8 to Sept. 15, an increase of 11 from a week earlier. There were 18 cases reported in that age range the week before school began. 

The Eleva and Strum areas were hit hard last week too as 34 new cases were reported in Eleva and 27 in Strum. Of the cases in the B-T district, 20 were Blair residents while Arcadia, Osseo and Whitehall all had 17 new cases, Galesville, 16; Trempealeau, 13; Ettrick, 11 and Independence, six, according to the DHS. 

The county health department also reported 12 new cases amongst residents 70 and older. As of Monday, six county residents were hospitalized.