GREEN BAY, Wis. — As the Badger State continues to see record-breaking COVID-19 numbers every few days, one Wisconsin doctor said the attention on the presidential election may be taking the focus away from the pandemic.
Dr. Ashok Rai of Prevea Health says the percent positivity rate for COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continues to grow higher during the current weeks-long surge in cases. Just Saturday, the seven-day rolling average in positive tests hit 34.4%.
“The reality of the situation is that our total case burden here in the state continues to be at a high number, the hospitalizations continue to be at a high number,” Rai says. “The overall percentage of hospital beds being used ICU beds used, the percentage of positive people being tested are all at very high, almost an unsustainable rate if it continues.”
Rai warns Wisconsin is at a critical point in the current surge. He says Wisconsinites need to play their role to bring numbers down.
“The virus doesn’t know that there was an election,” he says. “The virus doesn’t care that we need a week off to think and to gather and to deal with our own anxiety. The virus doesn’t care about any of that. It will continue to replicate in human bodies and the only way to defeat this virus is to prevent that replication from spreading from human to human.”
He’s concerned the stress and attention placed on the national election may cause some people to let their guard down against the virus.
“Any kind of lax in behavior — masking, physically distancing, not getting tested if you’re having symptoms or if you’re exposed — all those things are just going to lead to a compounding effect,” Rai says. “A week of not being vigilant is pretty catastrophic.”