A prominent local doctor said Milwaukee County appears to have turned a corner on COVID-19 with fewer new cases. But that bit of good news, comes with plenty of caution.
Dr. Ben Weston is the county's chief health policy advisor and teaches at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He told reporters Tuesday that the county's daily new COVID-19 caseload has dropped to about 975, but deaths are now up to eight per day.
Weston said the surge is far from over. "Even on the decline, our cases continue to be at record numbers, as does our positivity [percentage of positive tests.] And, as we've seen throughout the pandemic, cases fall before hospitalizations, which fall before deaths. And that's no exception here, as we see very high numbers of COVID hospitalizations still, and continually rising numbers of COVID deaths," he said.
In response to a request from WUWM, Milwaukee County provided a closer look at its approximately 170 COVID-19 deaths so far this year.
Twenty percent of those who have passed were people ages 55 to 64, and 71% were ages 65 and older. About 60% of those who died were white, 30% Black and 7% Latino.
Latest census figures show Milwaukee county is 64% white and 27% Black.
Weston continued to urge more people to get the COVID-19 vaccine or a booster if eligible, as only 63% of county residents have received at least one dose and 58% have completed the vaccine series.
Additional COVID-19 caution came from Dr. Smriti Khare, a health care provider at Children's Wisconsin. She said she'd like to see more 5 to 11-year-olds get their shot.
"Only about 24% of the kids in the state of Wisconsin have been vaccinated in that age group. The more kids are vaccinated, the more the community is protected, the more they are protected," Khare said.
Khare said we shouldn't just look at the low death rate among children. "There are so many other ways COVID has impacted our kids. Probably the way we worry about the most is the mental and behavioral health of our children," she said.
LISTEN: How children are being impacted by Wisconsin's latest COVID-19 surge
There is also news on the mask front. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the state sent the county 600,000 N95 masks late last week. About one-third have been distributed.
Crowley said county residents can find out where they are available. "For mask distribution in your community, we are asking you to check your local health department's social media channels for any update you're looking for. We know there's a high demand for high quality masks," he said.
The county executive said he agrees the threat from COVID-19 is not over.
