Wisconsin Health Experts Urge Quarantining After Holiday Gatherings

Millions of Americans traveled for holiday gatherings this year, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that traveling will spread the virus.

A local healthcare expert is urging travelers quarantine.

Dr. Jeff Pothof of UW Health advised people to self-isolate and act as though they’d been exposed to the virus. He also warned that testing for COVID-19 too quickly could yield a false negative.

"It's just really tricky to say a negative test result, especially in someone who doesn't have symptoms is so reassuring that you're not taking on any risk," Dr. Pothof told CBS 58. "You maybe take on less risk than if you haven't gotten tested at all."

More than 29,000 COVID-19 cases remain active in Wisconsin as of Sunday (December 27), the latest data available from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Of 2.8 million total people tested, more than 470,000 have had confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 436,000 have recovered as of Sunday, Wisconsin Department of Health Services data show.

Statewide, deaths have reached nearly 4,700. More than 20,800 have ever been hospitalized because of COVID-19, according to state data.

Like many other hospital systems nationwide, UW Health received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccinations in recent weeks.

"We are proud to play a role in helping our partners in the area get vaccine doses they need to protect their front-line workers as fast as possible so we can get on to the next group of people to be vaccinated," Dr. Matt Anderson, senior medical director ambulatory operations, said in a UW Health news release earlier this month.

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