Four more from Fond du Lac County die in connection to COVID-19
FOND DU LAC – The Fond du Lac County Health Department reported 322 new positive COVID-19 tests since Nov. 19, according to its Community Impact Dashboard.
As of Friday, the county's total positive case count since the pandemic hit the Fond du Lac area in March 2020 was up to 18,250 — an increase from 17,928 the previous Friday — and the are 827 active cases in the county, including 22 people hospitalized in relation to COVID-19.
To date, 17,268 people have been released from isolation measures, and the department has recorded 214,583 negative tests.
Four additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported for the county this week:
- An 86-year-old man who died Nov. 20
- A 63-year-old man who died Nov. 20
- A 67-year-old man who died Nov. 22
- A 43-year-old woman who died Nov. 23
The total number of virus-related deaths in the county is 157.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks the county's transmission status as high.
The Safe Restart metrics report, updated on Mondays, shows the number of cases, contact tracing and hospitals' ability to care for patients without going into crisis standards in the yellow "proceed with caution" status, as of Nov. 22.
The criteria looking at testing and personal protective equipment availability are in the green "excellent" status, and no categories this week are in the red "of concern" status.
The report will be discontinued after the release of the Nov. 29 report, the department said on its website.
Fond du Lac County Health Officer Kim Mueller and SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital President Katherine Vergos will periodically provide updates on virus developments and other information via Zoom, with the next session scheduled for Monday.
A link will be available on the Fond du Lac County Health Department and SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac Facebook pages.
Participants can ask questions through the Q&A function on Zoom or by emailing Jayce.Commo@ssmhealth.com ahead of time. Future sessions will take place on Dec. 13 and Jan. 10.
The latest vaccine, testing information
Vaccine distribution is up to 53,321 county residents age 12 and older with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, which is 51.6% of the county population, according to state data.
SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac will offer the Pfizer vaccine to pediatric patients ages 5 to 11 by appointment at three locations in the county: Fond du Lac Regional Clinic Pediatrics, 420 E. Division St., Fond du Lac; Fond du Lac Regional Clinic Pediatrics, 835 Parkside St., Ripon; and Fond du Lac Regional Clinic Family Medicine, 608 W. Brown St., Waupun.
Call 920-926-8400 to make an appointment for any of the locations.
Free, weekly mobile testing is available in Fond du Lac for county residents age 2 and older.
A mobile unit from Accelerated Clinical Laboratories will offer COVID-19 tests from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds, 520 Fond du Lac Ave.
The unit offers PCR confirmatory tests, which will give results in one to two days. Symptoms are not a requirement for the mobile testing, and appointments, insurance or identification are not necessary.
With the weather getting colder, testing has moved inside the Cow Palace, and masks will be required.
There will be an additional testing day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 18.
Additionally, Agnesian HealthCare is testing symptomatic community members. Anyone with even minor symptoms is encouraged to call 920-926-8400 for testing information.
More information on testing and vaccines is available at fdlco.wi.gov.
Daphne Lemke contributed to this article.
Taima Kern can be reached at 920-907-7819 or tkern@gannet