On Tuesday, Sept. 28, the Grant County Board of Health held a meeting over Zoom. This meeting was open to everyone in the county.

The meeting was held to discuss the COVID-19 updates and staffing of medical officials working in Grant County for vaccinations.

In the COVID-19 reports for the past two weeks, Grant County has been averaging 29.9 confirmed cases. Of those cases, 35% are people 18 years old and younger. It was noted that this percentage has not swayed recently, staying at a constant. Residents 65 and older make up 8.3% of those cases, and those 30 and younger make up the other 63.6%. Older popultions are more vaccinated than the younger demographic, which is why there are only 8.3% of 65 and up.

In the month of September, there were 40 hospitalizations in Grant County because of COVID-19, and 3,000 hospitalization records did not state a reason for hospitalization. Out of the 29 hospitals within Grant County, nine were reporting critical staffing levels and are anticipating more staffing issues in the days to come. 

A small group of health officers met to review the COVID-19 policies within schools to ask about setting up an email account to help field questions or concerns from the public in relation to COVID-19 and antibody testing. Currently, the CDC allows individuals who have had a positive antibody test in the last 90 days to be exempt from quarantining if they aren’t going to be around high-risk individuals. However, Wisconsin state guidance does not allow this at this time.

Testing has been expanded to the Shopko in Lancaster due to increased demand. Part of it is staffed by the National Guard, and part by volunteers. The location is able to offer vaccine boosters, but the public would need to express interest first.