Kewaunee and Door Counties will likely head into April two months removed from their last appearance outside of the low COVID-19 community-level standards set by the Centers for Disease Control.

As of Friday, eight counties were at least at the medium COVID-19 community level with Oneida and Forest counties listed at the high level. Closer to home, the Door County Public Health Department announced it had nine positive cases of COVID-19 out of 32 total tests excluding those performed with at-home kits. There was one new hospitalization reported but no new deaths. In Kewaunee County, Cindy Kinnard for its public health department told the county board during its meeting that it has been averaging between 10 to 15 new cases of COVID-19 a week. It also saw two additional deaths due to COVID-19 over the last month, increasing its count since the beginning of the pandemic to 61. In both cases, Kinnard says the people were older and vaccinated, but they also had significant health issues. She told the board that COVID-19 is here to stay.

The state Department of Health Services will end its community testing support program on April 15th as more people are relying on at-home kits rather than going to their doctor’s office or pharmacy. It comes as the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be considered a federal public health emergency in May.