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Wright Co. COVID-19 cases continue to increase amid amped-up testing

CLARION — A surveillance testing effort for COVID-19 in Wright County has resulted in a significant increase in positive results over Memorial Day weekend.

At the previous update on Thursday, there were 73 positive COVID-19 results in Wright County. As of press time on Tuesday, that number had increased to 124.

“The spike in numbers that we saw over the weekend were the remaining tests from the end of last week,” explained Karl Helgevold, Wright County supervisor and public information officer.

Over the past two weeks, the county had stepped up its surveillance testing of the county’s larger employers, testing all employees for the novel coronavirus. That testing effort will continue through this week, Helgevold said.

“I expect the numbers to increase over this next week,” he said.

While some of the positive results received over the weekend may have come from individuals who felt ill and sought treatment at a local hospital or medical provider, of the positive test results received through this surveillance testing, all were asymptomatic, Helgevold said.

Whether the individual is showing symptoms or not, the next step is the same for all positive results.

“We’re continuing to do the contact tracing and things like that to find out what else we have out there,” Helgevold said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 1,077 Wright County residents have been tested — 952 have tested negative and 124 have tested positive. As of Tuesday, 16 of the cases have recovered. There have been no deaths due to COVID-19 reported in Wright County.

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