Madison Reporter

COVID-19 numbers continue to trend downward across Wisconsin with authorities reporting the lowest number of hospitalizations related to the virus since July 2021, according to a WOKOW report April 7.

“Those numbers are coming down and so we’re happy to see that,” UnityPoint Health - Meriter chief medical officer, Pam Wetzel, told WKOW.

As of April 6, 144 patients were hospitalized with the virus, the report stated.

Wetzel reported about 10 patients were hospitalized with the virus on Thursday, but fortunately none of them were in the ICU.

Even with the number of COVID hospitalizations down, Wetzel said hospital staffers have remained busy.

"They're busy with all sorts of patients who need their help in other areas,” she said. “Emergency rooms are a little busier than what we've seen in the last few months."

Wisconsin Hospital Association President and CEO, Eric Borgerding, said hospitals across the state are seeing the same trend.

“Resources that had been devoted to overwhelming COVID demand are now being redirected to other types of care, which, in many cases, is no less urgent," he said.

Still, with COVID numbers down, Borgerding said many hospitals are working to recover from the intense workload they endured over the past two years.

"People still are trying to recover,” he said. “I don't think we're totally out of the woods when it comes to burnout. It's an ongoing problem for us."