Washington Co., WI – The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department will release zip codes of positive cases and names of long-term care facilities or organizations with COVID-19 outbreaks.
This information can be found on the Health Department’s online dashboard
After significant deliberation and research, the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department has determined it is in the best interest of the public to make this information available. Our goals are to protect the health of our residents by sharing the most accurate information, slow the spread of COVID-19 and promote a culture of transparency and honesty.
“The intention of our orders and the release of this information is to help us return to normal life as quickly as possible,” said Health Officer Kirsten Johnson.
An outbreak in a long-term care facility is defined as one resident with a laboratory confirmed test or two employees with laboratory confirmed tests. For all other organizations, an outbreak is defined as any two people with laboratory confirmed positive tests who are affiliated with the organization and were exposed at the same time.
The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department believes people have a right to know where outbreaks are concentrated in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from exposure to the virus. Additionally, long-term care facility staff and management should be aware of outbreak locations to make appropriate staffing decisions, especially if staff work at more than one facility. Individuals that may attend religious services as a guest or non-member, where they otherwise may not be informed through communication to regular members, should be made aware of possible exposure as well. Finally, we ask organizations and businesses to be forthcoming with their employees and clients when there is a positive case among them to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department is sharing this information to protect the health of our communities. As the number of cases increases it becomes more difficult to conduct contact investigations quickly. Sharing information publicly will become more crucial as time goes on. We have evidence of community spread in both Washington and Ozaukee Counties and want our residents to continue to be diligent with hand washing, social distancing and staying at home.
Can we ask for the number of cases of recovered or resolved that tested positive initially? The Dept is not sharing information using the requests form at their website. Maybe the press can get an answer. There have been 99 positive. Somebody has to know the status of these patients.