Department Of Health Services: ‘We’re On The Path To A 4th Surge’

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is asking people to wear a mask indoors in COVID-19 hotspots, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the department issued guidelines which align with those made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a day earlier. Additionally, federal and state health officials recommend that all students, teachers, staff and visitors to K-12 school buildings should wear masks indoors at all times for safety.

“The CDC has been very clear: kids need to go to school,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk during a briefing Wednesday. “We need in-person instruction this year and adding the layered protection of masks is so important to be sure we can keep kids in the classroom where we all know they need to be.”

The push for vaccination and new masking guidelines comes as the delta variant takes hold across the country, and Wisconsin’s seven-day average of new infections climbed to 478, which is twice what it was a week ago and seven times what it was a month ago.

“We’re on path for a fourth surge here with this variant, and we all need to do our part,” said Willems Van Dijk.

More than 80 percent of recent COVID-19 infections in the state are due to the delta variant which scientists believe is twice as contagious as earlier variants. Increased spread could prompt more strains of the disease, some of which might be more dangerous, Willems Van Dijk said, as she urged people to get vaccinated. Nearly all new cases since July — 98 percent — have been in people who weren’t vaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

In rare instances, some people who are vaccinated can still get COVID-19, and potentially spread it. The new guidance on masks is also intended to prevent that.

“Breakthrough infections started out at a very low rate. But now with the delta variant and the higher ease of transmissibility, those breakthrough infections are growing,” said Dr. Nasia Safdar, director of infection control at UW Hospital and Clinics and faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “So, the mask then will be this extra layer of protection in addition to the vaccine. Of course, it’s crucial for unvaccinated people (to mask up) because they don’t have that layer of protection from the vaccine.”

To help people know if COVID-19 is widespread in their community, the CDC has a tool which state officials say can help local leaders and residents make decisions on mask wearing.

As of Wednesday, Florence, Pepin and Iron counties all showed a high level of transmission. Eleven other counties had substantial level of COVID-19 spread. Those counties are: Bayfield, Sawyer, Buffalo, Oneida, Forest, Shawano, Adams, Calumet, Milwaukee, Waukesha and Racine.

Federal recommendations are to wear a mask indoors for both categories.