State health officials warn of new cases of COVID after Bucks crowd

MADISON, Wisconsin – State health officials warn of an increased spread of COVID-19, especially the most serious and easily transmitted Delta variant, amid hundreds of thousands of people gathering in Milwaukee for the Bucks Championship Parade celebrations.

83% of new cases sequenced in the state are the Delta variant, Department of Health Services Assistant Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said, with the 7-day average now almost 3 times higher than two years ago. weeks.

“We are concerned,” Van Dijk said of the parade crowd, which Milwaukee officials say is expected to reach half a million. “Both this combination of probably unvaccinated people without a mask in these nearby environments, the fact that people were really loud and screaming loud, which is a great way to spread the infection, the presence of the Delta variant in our status – I anticipate we will see additional cases as a result of these gatherings.

Just over half of the state has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the other half still unvaccinated. Van Dijk said she expected this percentage to be replicated in crowds in Milwaukee as well, where few participants were masked.

“What we do know is that this variant is extremely contagious,” Dijk noted. “It will spread most effectively to those who are not vaccinated, and more people infected means we will see more hospitalizations and more deaths.”

The parade began at 11 a.m. and ended in Deer District, where state officials, Bucks executives and players gave speeches commemorating the NBA Finals victory, their first since 1971. It is one of the biggest events the city has ever hosted, said Wednesday.

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