Top Questions

Page Last Updated 1/26/2021 at 1:15 pm

Sauk County Public Health answers questions about COVID.
Do you have a COVID question? Email covid19@saukcountywi.gov and we may feature your question here!

COVID Top Questions:

Click here for COVID-19 Vaccine Information

 

What should I know about the new mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines?

Wait, there are different types of COVID tests?

11/13/2020 Letter to the Editor: There are currently three COVID-19 tests available.

Two test for active infection: the gold standard Molecular Test and the rapid Antigen Test. The Molecular (or PCR) Test is a nasal swab test used at free community testing sites in Sauk County (see https://www.co.sauk.wi.us/publichealth/free-covid-testing-information). It’s the most accurate test, but it can take a day or more to get results. The Antigen (or Rapid) Test is a nasal or saliva swab. It gives results within minutes, but it’s less accurate, so people may need to follow up with a Molecular Test, especially if they have symptoms. Antigen Tests make it easier to quickly isolate infected people and quarantine their contacts.

A third test, the Antibody Test, is a blood test that assesses if a person was infected with COVID-19 in the past. This test helps determine who is qualified to donate convalescent blood plasma, a COVID-19 treatment. Antibody Tests are not as accurate as other tests. In addition, we do not know yet if having antibodies protects someone from being re-infected, or how long this protection may last, so even those with positive Antibody Tests need to take precautions to keep themselves and their community safe. 

 

What about Herd Immunity?

10/22/20 Letter to the Editor: Herd Immunity is Currently NOT a Solution to COVID-19

For immediate release by Sauk County Public Health, Reedsburg Area Medical Center, Sauk Prairie Healthcare, and SSM Health St. Clare Hospital

Herd immunity is the concept that if most people (the herd) become immune to a disease, then the spread of the disease from person to person becomes unlikely, protecting the whole community. There are two ways to achieve herd immunity: through infection or vaccine. Vaccines can provide herd immunity without people getting sick, but currently there is no vaccine for COVID-19. Herd immunity through COVID-19 infection would be a catastrophic failure.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that would require most of the herd to get infected before the whole community is protected. Experts estimate that 7 out of 10 people would need to recover from COVID-19 for herd immunity. That is over 45,000 Sauk County residents. This amount of infection would have tragic consequences in our communities:

  • Our healthcare systems would be overwhelmed. Hospitals and clinics would be unable to care for the sick and dying. Healthcare workers would get sick, too.
  • Many sick people would have severe complications, especially vulnerable populations. Even young people without pre-existing conditions can take months to recover from COVID-19, and may have long-term problems with their hearts, lungs, and brain functioning.
  • Thousands of our friends, neighbors, and family members would die.

Even after all this devastation, herd immunity for COVID-19 through infection would fail because infected people can get infected again. We do not yet know how long immunity lasts for a person who has recovered from COVID-19. There is no evidence that COVID-19 is like other diseases that provide long-term immunity to those who recover from it.

Until there is a safe COVID-19 vaccine that is widely available, the best thing we can do to slow the spread is not get sick.  Avoid large crowds and events, stay 6 feet apart from others, wear a mask, wash your hands often with soap and water, stay home, and if you are exposed or have symptoms, get tested and quarantine yourself. Together, we can overcome COVID-19 by limiting infection.

 

How do Masks Work?


Click here to watch a video created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology showing how wearing a homemade cloth face covering reduces the distance air travels when breathing and coughing. For more information about this study, visit https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/my-stay-home-lab-shows-how-face-coverings-can-slow-spread-disease

To learn more about Cloth Face Coverings, including how to make one at home, click here.