COVID case numbers grow

HURLEY — As the number of local COVID-19 cases continues to rise, the Iron County Health Department announced it is partnering with the Wisconsin National Guard to increase the availability of COVID-19 testing in Iron County later this week.

There are a pair of testing events planned, with one scheduled in Hurley and a second in Mercer.

The Hurley event will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hurley K-12 School and the Mercer event will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the Department of Natural Resources Ranger Station at 5291 N. State House Circle.

A maximum of 400 tests will be available at each site, according to health department officials, and anyone 5 and older can get tested at the free event.

Additional testing sites around northern Wisconsin can be found at dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/community-

testing/htm.

Along with the testing events, Iron County health officials announced four new positive cases and three additional recoveries Monday. These numbers bring the county’s total to 29 confirmed cases linked to the coronavirus pandemic and 15 recoveries.

In Michigan, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department announced a possible exposure site in Gogebic County Friday.

The Subway within the Ironwood Walmart is being a listed as a possible exposure site, according to the health department, with the dates of possible exposure including July 7 and July 8.

“The health department is advising people that exposure could have occurred at the site listed above or several days later with close contact to someone who visited the site,” health department officials said in the announcement. “Depending on the length of exposure, you might be at a higher risk of contacting COVID-19. Symptoms will typically appear within 2 to 14 days of the exposure.”

Local health departments release the locations of possible exposure sites when the risk of public exposure is enough that individual contract-tracing efforts aren’t adequate to track everyone who may have come in contact with an infected person.

The health department also announced several other possible exposure sites elsewhere in the Upper Peninsula on its Facebook page — including a Fourth of July gathering at McCarty’s Cove in Marquette County, restaurants and campgrounds in St. Ignace and the Shepler’s Ferry between Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island on July 11.

The health department’s update on Friday put the number of positive cases in Gogebic County at 21, with two additional probable cases — up from 19 positives and and one probable reported Wednesday.

Data on the state of Michigan’s website listed 33 confirmed cases and three probables in Gogebic County as of Sunday morning. Western U.P. Health Department officials didn’t provide confirmation of the state’s numbers prior to press time Monday.

Gogebic and Iron counties’ lone fatalities continue to be the first cases, both of which were announced March 26.

Health officials in both counties continue to urge people to take precautions against the spread of the virus — including wearing masks or face coverings, practicing social distancing, frequent and thorough hand washing and staying home when sick.