For the Tomahawk Leader

WISCONSIN – In a release from Wednesday, Feb. 9, Aspirus Health said its recent COVID-19 data, as well as data from the State of Wisconsin, “continue to show an encouraging trend.”

Citing the New York Times’ coronavirus map, Aspirus said COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state have been on a “steady decline” since mid-Jan. 2021.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 9, there were 80 COVID-positive patients in Aspirus hospitals – the fewest since Sept. 23, 2021, according to the release.

“This also is a considerable decrease from January, when Aspirus’ average COVID daily census was 125,” Aspirus stated.

The number of COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients is also dropping, according to the release. As of Wednesday, Feb. 9, Aspirus had 20 COVID-positive patients in the ICU and 10 on ventilators, compared to a daily average in January of 29 and 22, respectively.

Redman-Schell

“With these trends of decreased cases and hospitalizations, we are getting a little bit of a reprieve from this two-year-long pandemic,” said Jenny Redman-Schell, Aspirus Senior Vice President and President of the Aspirus Medical Group.

The Aspirus Reference Lab saw a 24% positivity rate in COVID-19 tests processed from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5, 2022, according to the release.

“That rate is lower than Aspirus experienced during the peak of the delta variant surge in Nov. 2021, when positivity rate reached 28%,” Aspirus stated.

Aspirus said the numbers align with COVID-19 positivity rates being reported by the Wisconsin of Department of Health Services (DHS), noting that the state has seen “a steady decrease in the percentage of total positive tests since early in Jan. 2022.”

“These positive trends are allowing Aspirus to resume procedures that had been postponed during the busiest weeks of the surge, when resources were redirected to the crucial efforts to care for COVID-19 patients,” Aspirus stated.

“This is very important because we want to make sure that patients get the care that they need,” Redman-Schell said. “Even if you need a total hip or total knee replacement, it’s very important because you could be living with pain or decreased mobility and you want to get that case completed and start on the road to rehab.”

Aspirus said it is continuing to monitor COVID-19 activity.

“Community cases have returned to where they were before the emergence of the omicron variant, but it is still important for the community to follow public health guidance and get vaccinated and boosted,” Aspirus said.

COVID-19 vaccinations are available through Aspirus Health and numerous pharmacies in local communities. Boosters or initial vaccination series can be scheduled through Aspirus using the MyAspirus online patient portal or mobile app. Appointments are also available by calling the Aspirus COVID-19 Call Center at 844-568-0701 or 715-843-1454. The Call Center has been experiencing high call volumes, so community members are encouraged to use MyAspirus for convenience.

Photos courtesy of Aspirus.