Editor's Note - we will begin carrying updates from Dr. Alexandra Hall on the COVID-19 status in the Chippewa Valley, particularly in regard to Dunn County. Interim update on Chippewa Valley - significant continued increases in cases in Eau Claire & Chip, staying high in Dunn. All are at the highest levels we've seen since January. UWEC started classes today, so their students have all been on campus already, whereas UW Stout starts classes next Wednesday; their students are still arriving yet. Given that K-12 schools just started this week with masks only required in EC and the big influx of Stout students happening this weekend, it's highly likely there will be large increases ahead. Test positivity rates in the NW region of WI are in the 20-30% range, indicating that there is likely a LOT of undiagnosed COVID happening out there - those are folks who don't know they have it and whose close contacts therefore aren't being notified and quarantined. They're all still walking around, going to work, etc. If we assume we're only catching about 1/3 of actual cases, that would mean that about 1 in every 100 people in the Chippewa Valley are currently infected and contagious right this minute. This weekend is a great time to BE CAREFUL. The weather should be nice, so keep any gatherings outdoors and distanced.For those of us with kids in schools, get ready and have a plan in place for if they get infected. That plan must include not only supervision and care for that child but also quarantine for any household members who aren't fully vaccinated. For those of us who work in the universities, now is a great time to do virtual meetings if appropriate distance can't be maintained. (I'm not very worried about my classrooms, as I can keep distance there, but I'm not going to meet with students in my office - it's too small a space.) If you know people who work in public health or in hospitals, please extend some additional kindness and support to those folks. They're probably really going to need it.
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Alexandra Hall M.D. – Dr. Hall earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Science Education from New York University, taught high school in East Harlem, and then earned her M.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
She then completed a residency in Family Practice and served as Chief Resident at the University of Vermont. After practicing medicine for Dean Health System in Wisconsin and then at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Dr. Hall moved to Menomonie, WI to work at UW Stout, where she currently teaches for the Biology department and serves as a physician at Student Health Services.
Dr. Hall has a passion for educating people about health and science; she gives workshops regionally and nationally on various medical topics to both lay and professional audiences and has won several teaching awards for her work.
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