COVID-19 Timeline

February

  • February 5: First case of COVID-19 in Wisconsin.

  • February 26: COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in all continents of the world except Antarctica.

March

  • March 10: First Situation Update sent to the public. These situation updates kept the public, partners, healthcare providers and elected officials informed of our local response, updates from the CDC and DHS, and community resources. Throughout the pandemic we have provided COVID case data to our community to keep them informed of the current COVID situation in our county.

  • March 14: First case of COVID-19 in Winnebago County.

  • March 16: Launched the COVID-19 hotline with staff available to be a resource for the community and answer questions about COVID-19. In 2020, WCHD answered 6,741 hotline calls.

  • March 24: Governor Evers issues a Safer at Home order, directing Wisconsinites to stay at home in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

April

  • April 2: Developed the COVID-19 Dashboard to organize and display data on our website.

  • April 2: First evidence of community spread occurs in Winnebago County.

  • April 6: First COVID-related death in Winnebago County.

  • April 28: Winnebago County works with local hotels to offer isolation and quarantine locations for eligible individuals.

May

  • May 7: First contact investigation training is hosted by WCHD nurses to train additional staff to conduct contact investigations and notify people of their need to quarantine

  • May 14: Winnebago County issues countywide Safer at Home order

  • May 15: Winnebago County rescinds Safer at Home order in response to Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling

  • May 29: WCHD issues COVID-19 Recommendations including safety guidance for all, specific business guidance, gathering recommendations and travel guidance.

June

  • June 1: All June events at Sunnyview Expo Center are canceled, as well upcoming 2020 events

  • June 7: WCHD staff have conducted over 1,000 contact investigations since March.

  • June 11: WCHD and UW-Oshkosh begin conversations and planning for what a safe reopening in the fall will look like.

  • June 26: CDC team arrives to investigate the rise in 20-29 year old COVID-19 cases, that age demographic was accounting for nearly 40% of total cases.

July

  • July 8: WCHD continued to host trainings and hire more COVID-19 staff.

  • July 16: WCHD begins sharing weekly data summaries with the community. They include an added level of detailed data and additional demographic information.

  • July 22: WCHD releases COVID-19 Face Coverings Advisory recommending everyone wears face coverings that cover their mouth and nose when indoors or within 6 feet of people.

  • July 27: The Wisconsin National Guard approves WCHD's request to begin a community COVID-19 testing site at Sunnyview Expo Center

August

  • August 7 & 8: First pop-up community testing at Sunnyview Expo Center, 890 tests conducted over 2 days

  • August 13: WCHD continues hiring and training additional COVID-19 staff.

September

  • September 1: Regional Community Testing Site opens at Sunnyview Expo Center, open Monday - Saturday, 200 individuals tested on 1st day

  • September 15: Approximately 700 COVID-19 PCR tests are conducted daily at Sunnyview Expo Center

  • September 24: Oshkosh Area School District transitions to virtual learning for at least 2 weeks

Photo courtesy of Appleton Post Crescent

October

  • October 1: WCHD releases updated COVID-19 recommendations mentioning significant uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.

  • October 6: CDC helps UW-Oshkosh test on-campus and off-campus students.

  • October 9: WCHD notes an uptick in deaths, 1/3 of the 33 COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the last 2 weeks.

  • October 14: WCHD begins to mail letters to all PCR positive COVID-19 cases to notify them of their diagnosis.

  • October 21: The Wisconsin National Guard has conducted 29,000 tests to date at the Sunnyview Expo Center.

November

  • November 6: WCHD staff begin working on COVID-19 vaccination plans and learning about upcoming vaccine options

  • November 17: CDC is in Winnebago County to study the efficacy of COVID-19 antigen tests

December

  • December 11: FDA grants Emergency Use Authorization of Pfizer vaccine in USA

  • December 14: First dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given in Wisconsin

  • December 18: WHO designates Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.315) as Variants of Concern

  • December 29: Nursing homes in Winnebago County begin to receive vaccinations from local pharmacies