Milwaukee City Wire

Health officials from the cities and counties of Milwaukee County recently held a meeting to address the spike in new positive COVID-19 cases throughout the county, according to a WISN report.

As a result of an increase in COVID -19 transmissions, the county is now classified as having a medium transmission level, causing longer queues at testing centers and hospitals.

"We should take this moment as an opportunity to remember that we're still dealing with COVID-19," Milwaukee County Chief Health Policy Adviser Dr. Ben Weston said, according to WISN.

Over the first week of May, the county's cases per 100,000 have increased by 30%, while hospitalizations have doubled during the same period.

"We're at 10% positivity right now," Weston told WISN. "We haven't been over 10% positivity in three months."

According to Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson, this data may be distorted because most individuals are opting to test at home rather than traveling to sites such as the Southside Health Center.

"At-home testing is a great tool to protect yourself and those around you because if you know you're going to go, for example, to the Bucks game tomorrow night," Johnson told WISN. "If you test yourself before you go and you're negative, you know that you're safe."

Every county in the United States is categorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention according to its COVID-19 rate of transmission. Milwaukee County has been in the green transmission rating over the last two months, meaning that no restrictions are required.

Rising from green to yellow indicates that people who are at high risk or in close proximity to those who are at high risk should wear face masks indoors.

"The number of cases we are experiencing right now, we're seeing a small sort of increase," Johnson told WISN. "I think the most important thing is it's time to be more cautious."

The county will be required that everyone wear a mask while indoors If the number of cases continues to climb and reaches the red transmission threshold.

"We have a vaccine that we know is effective from preventing severe illness and death," Johnson said. "The number of cases we are  experiencing right now pales in comparison to what we experienced this  winter in December and January."

With health officials urging caution, Milwaukee County also stated that it would reinstate the mask requirement for high-risk facilities.

Beginning in early May, all staff interacting with the public at the Milwaukee County Courthouse has been required to wear face masks. In addition, the county requires masks in the jail, house of correction, juvenile detention center, behavioral health services hospital and the Coggs Center.

In the city of Milwaukee, approximately 64.5% of adults aged 16 and older are fully vaccinated, and 48.2% of that group have had a booster dose.

In addition, 19.7% of children aged 5 to 11 have received all doses of the pediatric COVID-19 vaccination series, whereas 24% have received only one dose.

In southeast Wisconsin, Ozaukee is the only other county classified as medium transmission level.