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Health experts early in the COVID-19 crisis feared running short of ventilators, tools that can treat the life-threatening buildup of fluid in the lungs of patients with severe cases. But Wisconsin now has plenty of ventilators, and doctors say they are trying to avoid using the equipment, reports Bram Sable-Smith, a WPR fellow embedded in the Wisconsin Watch newsroom. Today we highlight Sable-Smith’s examination of how thinking on ventilators has evolved.
Top Stories
‘Almost a death sentence’: How Wisconsin doctors, peers are rethinking ventilators for coronavirus —WPR/Wisconsin Watch
Wisconsin’s confirmed cases of coronavirus surpass 8,000 as Evers pledges to test all nursing home residents and staff — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
How do we safely reopen Wisconsin’s and the nation’s economy? — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
COVID-19 testing is more widely available in Wisconsin, but some doctors and patients haven’t gotten the message — Appleton Post-Crescent
Global race for COVID-19 vaccine includes Madison contenders — Wisconsin State Journal
Tough choices: Wisconsinites facing unemployment amid COVID-19 pandemic delay bills, goals — WPR
How Wisconsin was able to get 10,000 masks, 1,000 medical outfits in a donation from ‘sister state’ in China — The Journal Times
Sixth sister at Our Lady of the Angels Convent in Greenfield dies from the coronavirus — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
What are we missing? And how are you coping? Help us provide critical information and accountability by filling out this form or emailing us at tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
New resource
The Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has launched a desktop and smartphone app called COVID-19 Wisconsin Connect designed by government, business and academic experts from Wisconsin.
“It’s the first locally-designed app, allowing users to both receive and give help to others in their communities while correcting state-specific misinformation trending on social media,” the university said in a press release Monday. “In addition, free meditations by Healthy Minds Innovations allow users to stay ‘in app’ to get vital relaxation exercises.”
Government updates
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention
Live updates
Live coverage from USA Today-Wisconsin reporters
Live coverage from Wisconsin State Journal reporters
Quotable
“My dad was ready to go to heaven and he did, and she followed right behind. …They did it on their own terms. They got their final wishes.”
Corinne Feider, youngest of two daughters of Glenn and Beverly Wefel, a Milwaukee-area couple who died two days apart from COVID-19, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Data to note
Three Wisconsin metro areas were among the country’s 15 fastest growing hotspots for confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Monday, according to tracking by The New York Times. They are:
- Green Bay (1,167 recent cases, cases doubling every 8.6 days)
- Janesville-Beloit (188 recent cases, cases doubling every 8.7 days)
- Racine (267 cases, cases doubling every 8.9 days)
On a statewide basis, the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over the past 14 days has kept a relatively flat trajectory, according to Wisconsin Department of Health Services data.
Resilient Wisconsin
People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
Bikes, booze, banners and board games profitable amid COVID-19 pandemic — Wisconsin State Journal
Animal adoptions up at Wisconsin shelters amid stay-at-home requirements — WPR
South Beloit teachers parade through community — Beloit Daily News
A reddit user details adaptation efforts at the Buckhorn Bar in the Douglas County town of Gordon.
When things like eggs and toilet paper were impossible to get, our small town bar used it’s food service delivery to set up a makeshift market. This is my Wisconsin. from r/wisconsin//embed.redditmedia.com/widgets/platform.js
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
