GREEN BAY, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) — Brown County reported five more COVID-19 related deaths Tuesday, bringing the total to 11.
That news was the backdrop to the announcement of a second community testing site in the county.
The site will open Wednesday at Casa Alba Melanie at 314 South Madison St. Community wide testing of people showing symptoms (or with a provider order) of the illness has been ongoing at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon since Monday.
“I understand the need for us to have human contact, to be able to socialize to bring back some form of normalcy. I know small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy, and they’re struggling,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “The best way for us to do this is to do it together.
That includes wearing masks in public, limiting travel to essential trips, frequent hand washing and maintaining proper social distancing.
The county has been testing aggressively and has seen the number of positive increase to more than 1,500. Almost 180 people are out of isolation and are no longer a threat to spread the virus. Forty three people are hospitalized.
The county’s most recent deaths ranged in age from 29 to 96. The 29-year-old had underlying medical conditions.
Appointments for testing can be scheduled here or by calling 211 to schedule by phone.
While clusters of cases have been tied to employees at three meat processing facilities around the county, health officials said the concern is focused on the entire community — not just specific locations or businesses.
“The greater focus would be on the community spread. We can’t point fingers or come to one source that caused the types of numbers we’re seeing in Brown County,” said Claire Paprocki of Brown County Health and Human Services. “It’s just as likely if you go over to your neighbors house and have an adult beverage in the driveway you could easily get COVID-19 that way, — just as if you were working in a meat plant.”
JBS — which operates a packing plant in Green Bay — shut that facility down for more tan a week. It began operations again Tuesday and was expected to ramp up production during the week.
Paprocki said representatives from the county health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a walkthrough the plant Monday and were pleased with the prevention measures they observed. JBS said employees will also be tested by the company when they return to work.