The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Dane County has risen along with a statistically significant increase in “COVID-like” syndromic cases, Public Health Madison & Dane County announced Friday.
As of Oct. 10, 69 people are hospitalized with COVID in Dane County according to Public Health’s dashboard. 15 individuals are in intensive care. This time last month, with the return of UW-Madison students, there were only 25 COVID cases hospitalized.
"There's been a marked, deeply concerning increase this week in the number of folks getting sick enough from Covid-19 that they went to the hospital. According to data, [on Thursday] alone almost one of every five people who walked into a hospital emergency room in Dane County presented with symptoms related to the pandemic,” Dane County Executive David Parisi stated in a press release. “More people are not only contracting COVID, they're getting really sick from it.”
Public Health echoed Parisi’s statement, noting that there has been a statistically significant increase in COVID-like syndromic cases. Meaning, more individuals are qualifying as early symptomatic cases.
“Higher numbers of people potentially with Covid coming through the doors of our emergency rooms could very well be an early warning of even higher numbers of hospitalizations in the weeks ahead,” Parisi said.
With cases related to UW-Madison students and staff continuing to make up a smaller and smaller proportion of Dane County cases each week, Public Health reinforced that all residents must do their part in limiting community spread.
“This increasing trend is one we’re seeing statewide, including in the South Central region,” the health department stated. “We want to remind everyone that our collective actions can stop COVID-19 or spread COVID-19, and it’s up to us to prioritize the health and well-being of our community.”
Public Health Madison & Dane County will continue to monitor hospitalizations very closely to avoid potentially straining the healthcare system ahead of the cold and flu season.
Addison Lathers is the Editor in Chief of The Daily Cardinal. She has covered city and campus news and held two editor positions. Follow her on Twitter at @addisonlathers.
