The surge of COVID-19 cases in Door County is driving up numbers across the board, including before you ever find out if you are positive or negative.
Door County Public Health announced Thursday 241 positive cases of COVID-19 out of 334 tests administered since Monday’s update. The total number of people hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic cracked the 200 mark with 15 new patients. The county also reported one additional death, though those numbers along with hospitalizations tend to lag from the state’s reporting.
Finding out you are positive for COVID-19 could be difficult, but for some, it is the waiting that is the hardest part. Door County Medical Center released a video on Wednesday apologizing to patients that it will take up to five days in some cases to get results from their PCR tests. Door County Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Heise says they have been averaging about 250 tests administered a day when their capacity with three analyzers is approximately 170 per day.
At-home tests are becoming more readily available at stores after the holidays caused them to be in short supply. Heise says they work well, but you should make sure you test a second time if your results come back negative with the first one if you have symptoms.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported that the seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases dropped for the first time since Christmas. The number of new cases still broke the 10,000 mark.
