If you’re planning a family vacation this spring, deputy Health Services Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk hopes you’ll wait awhile, as COVID-19 variants are spreading.
“We would want to caution travel, because we don’t want to be bringing variants into Wisconsin that could spread to other folks when you come back, who are still susceptible,” Willems Van Dijk said.
“We know there are variants of this virus emerging and spreading across out nation. And we need to get these vaccine levels up a little higher, before we risk bringing further disease into our state, that will increase risk for those not yet vaccinated.”
With only about 15 percent of the state fully vaccinated against the coronavirus (as of Friday), Willems Van Dijk said DHS would advise against unnecessary travel for at least another couple months.
“I know it’s been a long hard year. I’m sure every one of us wants to go on vacation. But if we can give this just a couple more months with the kind of progress we’re making, I think we will be in a much better situation with protecting the whole of us, by being more cautious in that regard.”
On Friday, the Department of Health Services confirmed a third variant strain found in the state. This one originated in Brazil, and like other variant strains spreads more rapidly and easily than the original strain of COVID-19.
On Monday, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the U.S. is facing “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound once again.
“I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing.