State leaders urge social distancing, need for COVID-19 testing ingredients

State and local officials on Thursday called on Wisconsinites to continue socially distancing themselves and to stay home.

The state’s congressional delegation also raised concerns about the need for more COVID-19 testing supplies.

Gov. Tony Evers said Thursday that following state and federal guidance on social distancing and staying home will help protect healthcare professionals.

“We need these workers who are providing essential services to stay healthy so they can continue to care for and serve our state,” Evers said.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association echoed Evers’ message.

“We have to slow the trend of spread so that our healthcare system does not become overwhelmed and our incredibly dedicated healthcare professionals, who are on the front lines, are protected and are there for those who need them,” WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding said in a statement.

The Wisconsin National Guard said Thursday that it’s getting ready to respond to requests for assistance.

About 300 troops have been mobilized to state active duty, they said. Future missions could be assisting state agencies with logistics and planning, specimen collection, providing medical professionals and more.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said there’s an urgent need for ingredients to run COVID-19 tests and personal protective equipment as well as ingredients for the COVID-19 tests. He urged calm.

“The overriding message remains the same, and that is stay home as much as you possibly can,” he said on a press call.

He told reporters they had a call Wednesday night with the hospital and community health center executives who repeatedly said how much they needed personal protective equipment, which he called a national priority.

Wisconsin’s congressional delegation wrote to the leader of the Food and Drug Administration Thursday, raising concerns about the availability of reagents and other COVID-19 testing supplies at labs throughout the state.

They said hospitals are facing challenges due to the lack of supply of reagents, swabs and other supplies needed to process specimens. That’s led labs to process only the highest priority patients, leaving other patients to wait for their test results.

“We have several hospitals that have already set up their own labs, and more are scheduled to come online in the coming days,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse. “However, they are unable to obtain the equipment and supplies necessary to complete testing, leaving a significant amount of untapped capacity.”

The “testing bottleneck” increases the risk of COVID-19 spread and could result in healthcare workers being pulled out of the workforce for days as they await test results, the lawmakers wrote. FDA did not return a request for comment.

The Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene said

Thursday that Gold Cross Courier will expand its service to include weekend pick-up and delivery of specimens to the lab. The lab is running seven days a week to handle COVID-19 testing.

The Department of Health Services released updated guidance for long-term care and assisted living facilities Friday morning. They recommended facilities restrict visitation of all visitors and non-essential healthcare personnel, except for certain situations like end-of-life care.

In those cases, visitors should be limited to a specific room, screened and use personal protective equipment.

The guidance also recommended canceling communal dining and all group activities and active screening of residents and staff for fever and respiratory symptoms.

Milwaukee County on Thursday unveiled

its own tracker of COVID-19 cases, breaking down confirmed cases by municipality, age range and location.

They hope that the map helps health systems, departments and the public about what’s happening in the community, said Dr. Ben Weston, the county’s emergency medical services medical director.

Wisconsin Health News is removing the password on all stories related to the coronavirus. For the latest developments follow us on Twitter at @wihealthnews or check out our website. For complete healthcare coverage, sign up for a free trial to our daily email newsletter.