Two additional cases of the COVID-19 virus variant that was originally found in England have been discovered in Eau Claire. This variant, called B.1.1.7, is considered to be more readily transmitted than the original virus, and is also possibly more deadly.
The Walgreens website is now functioning and it is possible to look up the availability of appointments. In my case the site said no appointments are available currently in Menomonie.
Another update -- the site is back in "updates in progress" mode. My guess is that not a lot of appointments will be made any time soon.
Update -- the Walgreens.com website is functioning again, but attempts to schedule an appointment are still failing.
Legislature abandons bipartisan compromise, sends first bill to governor’s desk in more than 290 days
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today reacted to the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1, which was passed after Republicans abandoned compromise legislation that passed the Wisconsin State Senate with bipartisan support. A previous bipartisan version of AB 1 had received the governor’s support, signaling he would sign that version if Republicans sent it to his desk.
Gov. Tony Evers today signed Executive Order #105 and Emergency Order #1 establishing a statewide public health emergency and requiring face coverings in public places to protect the health and safety of Wisconsinites.
The Wisconsin Assembly just voted to accept the amended resolution revoking the governor's mask mandate and has sent the resolution back to the Senate. This, in effect, has removed the state-wide mask mandate.
The resolution will formally take effect tomorrow after it’s signed by Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.
Update -- After a long hearing in which 16 people spoke against the new mask ordinance and 10 spoke against it, the Eau Claire City Council approved the mask ordinance 13-0. 3,195 people responded to a survey put out by the city recently and of those respondents 59% favored the mask mandate and 41% asked to not have it implemented.
Gov. Tony Evers today signed Executive Order #104 and Emergency Order #1 establishing a new statewide public health emergency and face coverings requirement, respectively, as the state continues to expand vaccination distribution across the state.
The Wisconsin DHS will hold a Vaccine Q&A session today at 1:30 PM. We expect this session to cover information about the new expansion of vaccine availability to all Wisconsin residents over age 65.
Today the state is reporting 42 more deaths due to COVID-19, so DHS is emphasizing again that we need to continue to follow good practices to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
This is this week's COVID-19 update from Dunn County, with Dunn County Health Administrator KT Gallagher. Every week KT answers your questions and gives you information about the status of the virus (and now administering the vaccine) in Dunn County.
