By Karen Stokes
Dr. Ryan Westergaard
Dr. Ryan Westergaard, infectious disease specialist in Madison, Wisconsin, said during a news conference on Tuesday that the state was seeing mild to moderate increases in case activity level.
“The seven day average is just over 1000. In the context of where we were in January with the Omicron spike it’s about nine to ten times lower compared to what we experienced in January,” said Dr. Westergaard.
The risk of being infected is not as high when just being out in the general community settings but it’s higher than it was several weeks ago. The reason is the variant spreading in this country is predominantly the BA.2 Omicron subvariant, according to Westergaard.
He added that while it took longer for the BA.2 subvariant to take hold in North America than was the case in Europe, “it’s here now” and is the predominant variant spreading nationwide.
As of April 27, 2022, the Data Central Covid 19 Vaccine Tracker reports 73.32% of Wisconsinites have had at least one dose, 66% are fully vaccinated.
In Milwaukee County, 64.28% have had at least one dose and 60% are fully vaccinated.
“I think we have reason for optimism that the risk of disease is lower than it’s ever been. We have more people vaccinated and we have more therapeutic options to keep people out of the hospital,” said Westergaard.
“We learned the importance of planning ahead in knowing what way we have to plan our resources in the event that the disease surges again. The discussions are ongoing to prepare for what’s next.