SHOREWOOD — Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin have hit some grim milestones related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has now been five months since the first case hit the city.
“Friday, March 13, when we had our first diagnoses of a COVID positive case here in the City of Milwaukee, and the world has changed dramatically here and across the nation,” said Mayor Tom Barrett.
Since that day, Milwaukee has gone from one positive COVID-19 case to 21,748. On top of that, a sad milestone for the state, there have been 1,018 deaths in Wisconsin.
One of the first positive patients in our area was Pablo Muirhead. He spoke to TMJ4 back in March and publicly shared his family’s experience with coronavirus on YouTube. He, his wife, and their daughter all tested positive. Today, the Shorewood teacher remembers being careful about COVID-19 but not being too concerned.
"I got to class early and sanitized the entire classroom,” said Muirhead. “Little did I know I would wake up the next morning feeling ill, get tested, and never see my students again face to face.”
Pablo and his wife and daughter have recovered. Their son never tested positive for the virus.
“We’re survivors but we could still re-contract it and we could still be carriers,” said Muirhead.
According to Milwaukee County Health Officials, testing for coronavirus is becoming an issue. They say the number of people getting tested is now trending downward. The concern is people who are feeling sick are not getting tested.
“We have been experiencing a decrease in our testing rates. When we look at testing data here we are now five consecutive weeks trending downward in overall testing,” said Darren Rausch, director of the Greenfield Health Department.
If you need to get tested, go to the Milwaukee County website for more information
The Wisconsin National Guard is also conducting free COVID-19 testing for anyone, regardless of symptoms.
Drive-thru and walk-up testing are available from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. No appointment is needed.
There are two locations:
- Custer Stadium at Barack Obama High School of Career and Technical Education, 4300 W. Fairmount Ave., Milwaukee
- UMOS, 2701 S. Chase Ave., Milwaukee