COVID numbers rising at La Crosse area hospitals again

La Crosse area hospitals are starting to fill up with COVID-19 patients again, because of the variant spreading across the country.     

Mayo doctor Joe Poterucha says La Crosse County is considered at “substantial risk” for COVID, while Trempealeau and Monroe Counties are at high risk.  Poterucha says Vernon County has a moderate risk, because the vaccination rate there has been high.  

“We have some open beds here at Mayo,” says Poterucha, who counts 5 or 6 patients in intensive care. “We’re starting to feel the burden of sort of that delta surge, but less so than the surrounding communities in Wisconsin.”

For the first time in many weeks, La Crosse County reported over 40 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day on Monday.  That compares to several days this summer when the county had no new cases. 

Poterucha says 99 per cent of the new local cases are among non-vaccinated patients. 

But on a hopeful note, “I don’t see any foreseeable way that Wisconsin will go back to mask mandate lockdown mode,” said Poterucha.

  Will COVID numbers rise enough in Wisconsin to require another mask mandate for state residents?  Mayo physician Joe Poterucha (POT-a-roo-ka) in La Crosse doesn’t predict that happening:     Potarucha has seen more local COVID patients at Mayo, including in the intensive care unit, since the delta variant has become more widespread.  He says La Crosse and other area counties have been judged at ‘substantial risk’ for COVID by the C-D-C.