This is all new territory each day will look a little different, and we will let you know the latest, laid out in simple form. Your Covid-19 Cliff Notes are here.
As we follow the latest of the world pandemic, there is a lot (A LOT!) of information to digest, we will break it down from the larger (World) scope and work our way in here to Eau Claire and our own back yard and day to day lives. Trying to outline the basics and keep the information accurate, bite size, and easy to follow.
First of all, COVID19 is the name given to COronaVIrus Disease 2019, for the year that it was first detected. Now that we have that established we will look at the latest cliff notes.
WORLD: Government officials say they are concerned about reports of young people becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus. Doctor Deborah Birx said there has been an increase of the millennial generation being treated for serious illness in Italy and France. Researchers believe that young people are getting ill because they don’t think they are at risk so the continue to get exposed to the virus multiple times. There has been no such increase in children.
NATIONAL: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is now up to 94-hundred. About 150 have died from the virus in the U.S. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center says 68 people have died in Washington state, 20 have died in New York, 16 have died in California, eight in Florida, seven in Louisiana and five in New Jersey. Coronavirus deaths have also been reported in about 16 other states.
President Trump says he’ll have a news briefing involving the FDA later this morning. During a meeting with nurses at the White House yesterday, Trump called it a time of “shared sacrifices,” and said it’s amazing to see how the country has been coming together. Trump did not take questions from reporters during a photo-op.
The President has signed into law a multi-billion-dollar coronavirus aid package. The bill signed Wednesday includes provisions for paid-leave benefits, unemployment benefits and free diagnostic testing for the virus. Trump said in a statement that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act makes “emergency supplemental appropriations” and other changes to the law to help the nation respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
The bipartisan bill was passed after days of negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
STATE: The number of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin is continuing to grow. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday said there are now 113 people in the state who are sick. There are cases in at least 14 different counties. DHS is quick to add that over 15 hundred people who have been tested for the virus have been confirmed to not be sick.
LOCAL: Eau Claire County does not have a confirmed case of the coronavirus, yet. Eau Claire City-County Health Director Lieske Geise yesterday said her office is waiting on about 30 pending coronavirus tests. She says 20 people have been tested and confirmed to not be sick. Geise says they are prioritizing tests for people who work in hospitals and other healthcare centers.
There are three confirmed cases of the coronavirus in La Crosse County. The La Crosse County Health Department yesterday said a young man who lives with someone who was already sick is the latest case. Health Department director Jen Rombalski says no one has been sent to the hospital because of the virus. All three people are under quarantine at home.
LOCAL NOTES 
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST PREVENTION TIPS AND INFORMATION FROM THE CDC.
