Monday, November 2, 2020

20% of WI COVID survivors are not 'recovered'

I have contrasted Wisconsin's COVID-19 case numbers with entire countries' numbers to illustrate how disproportionate is our suffering here.

For example, when Wisconsin was reporting 98 deaths a week in early October, these were among the international numbers for the same week: 

Japan, 45

Switzerland, 37

Kenya, 35

Greece, 34

Austria, 28

Jamaica, 27

South Korea, 15 

And I saw a fact this weekend in Wisconsin's COVID counts which offered another way to understand the severity and depth of the pandemic's grip: 

Of the 228,863 residents who have tested positive...47,551, or 20.8%, are considered "active," meaning they aren't recovered and haven't died.

Pay attention to those 20.8 % of Wisconsin's cases - 47,551 people - who are alive but "aren't recovered." 

* 47,551 is larger than the entire population of each of dozens of Wisconsin cities with familiar names: Fond du Lac, Wausau, Neenah, Beloit, Stevens Point.

* It's more than four times the population in Brown Deer, Grafton, Waupun and Marinette, to name but a few. 

* Here's another way to grasp the active impact of the pandemic here; a sellout at Miller Park before COVID-19 cancelled ballpark attendance was 41,900.

Like I said, 47,551 is a big number, and that means a huge group of Wisconsinites have not recovered from COVID-19.

And as I keep repeating here, WI Republican State Senator Van Wanggaard, (Racine), said he'd still fight a statewide COVID-19-controlling mask ordinance even if the state's case load exploded ten fold.

So in addition to the more than 2,000 deaths here, and as hospitals are filling up in Wisconsin again, Wanggaard would still oppose a mask mandate even if Wisconsin were to have almost half a million citizens whose recovery from COVID-19 is less than complete. 

The Long-Hauler State. You could stamp that on our license plates.


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