GREEN BAY, Wisc.— The head of Bellin Health in Green Bay says its hospital is facing a surge of COVID-19 cases exceeding anything they saw this spring.

“Our emergency department has experienced unprecedented surges of patients last Friday and more recently this week,” said Chris Woleske, Bellin’s chief executive officer. “The need was so great that we had to hold patients on gurneys in the hallways to provide the necessary care to them.”

The county is one of the hardest hit in a dramatic uptick of cases across Wisconsin. While hospitals are seeing a spike of COVID-19 cases, it’s not yet compromising their ability to care for patients.

“We can continue to take care of the patients that are in front of us and those that are coming in, but our capacity could fill up in 24 hours as we’ve seen in areas like New York, Miami, or Phoenix,” said Dr. Ashok Rai, president and chief executive officer of Prevea Health. “As we stand today, we are not at a position where I would say the virus is overwhelming us, but we’re definitely on the verge if we can’t change local behavior.” 

 

The numbers — a 178-case increase from Thursday to Friday — have health officials worried. They’re asking residents to do their part to help stop the spread.

That’s wearing a mask, washing hands, keeping social distance and not congregating in large groups.

De Pere resident Jennifer Classon has been wearing a mask for months and says she will continue to do so.

“I don’t want to get sick,” she said Friday. “But even more importantly than that, I don’t want to get somebody else sick.”

Brown County added two more deaths to its toll Friday, bringing its total to 61.

Rai said many of the cases they’re seeing aren’t coming from schools or workplaces.

“It’s not children going to school suddenly having an outbreak, it’s really what’s happening outside of that: the social gatherings in private residences. A garage party with 100 people or 50 people,” he said. “That’s where we’ve been able to trace some of our sickest outbreaks.”

Both Rai and Woleske said the county and still can change course — the upward trend isn’t a foregone fate.

“When we look back at what we’ve done in the past and the impact that has had in terms of people socially distancing, staying home, only going out as necessary, we did see a decrease in cases and a decrease in hospitalizations,” Woleske said. “I absolutely believe we could see that happen again.”