Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information & Updates

Washington & Ozaukee COVID-19 Updates

Click here for our list of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information and Resources.
Visit our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Info Page.

Press Releases

March 13, 2020: COVID-19 General Release
March 18, 2020: First Positive COVID-19 Case & Ban on Mass Gatherings of 10 or More
March 20, 2020: First Death Related to COVID-19 in Ozaukee County
March 21, 2020: Long-Term Care Facility Lockdown & PPE
March 25, 2020: Staffing Agency & Hospice Caregiver Restrictions
March 27, 2020: Additional COVID-19 Related Deaths & Outbreaks
March 30, 2020: Washington County Reports First Death Related to COVID-19
April 2, 2020: Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department to Release COVID-19 Outbreak Data

Orders of the Health Officer

March 21, 2020: ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER: IMMEDIATE LOCK-DOWN OF ALL LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES
March 21, 2020: ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER: PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
March 25, 2020: ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER: LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY STAFFING

Key Messages:

You are safer at home.
Younger people, and particularly those who are 18 to 30 years old, aren’t immune to COVID-19. Anyone can contract COVID-19. So it's important for everyone, including young and healthy people, to practice social distancing.
Together we can make a difference in the fight against COVID-19.
- Stay home if you can and especially if you are sick.
- Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.
- Practice social distancing. Please keep six feet between people and avoid direct physical contact.
We all need to work together to flatten the curve and protect the capacity of the health care system to serve those who will suffer with the most severe disease from COVID-19.

To our residents:

Why do Washington and Ozaukee Counties have so many cases of COVID-19?
The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department (WOPHD) has been able to identify numerous cases quickly because the first reported positive COVID-19 case in Washington County was in a population where testing was prioritized. From there, we conducted contact tracing to identify more cases. Contact tracing is a method that has not been adopted by all health departments throughout Wisconsin, but it has allowed the WOPHD to identify a large number of cases and outbreaks quickly.

What is contact tracing?
Health department staff use contact tracing to identify potential positive COVID-19 cases and exposures. See below for the definition of contact tracing (World Health Organization, 2017).

Contact identification – When someone is positive with COVID-19, health department staff reaches out to the contact and interviews them about their activities and contact they’ve had with others leading up to their illness.
Contact listing – Health department staff create a list of all contacts that the positive case may have had contact with. The contact listing may include friends, family, co-workers, or healthcare workers. Health department staff reaches out to each contact to inform them of their status (they have had an exposure) and provide education, and provides recommendations to contact in the case that they start to have symptoms.

Due to guidelines from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, if the contact is a first responder or healthcare worker and becomes symptomatic, the WOPHD recommends prioritized testing for those individuals.

Common Topics Related to COVID-19

Food Pantry Options during COVID-19
Click HERE for the Latest Emergency Orders from Governor Evers’ Office.
Wisconsin COVID-19 Coronavirus Information - New site dedicated to providing timely WI COVID-19 information.
DHS Health Alert Network (HAN) is now active. Health care providers and other officials engaged in the COVID-19 response have been automatically subscribed to the HAN. Individuals can subscribe and unsubscribe using their preferred email address here.
Questions about your job? Visit the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.