ASSOCIATION. RIGHT NOW, NEW CONCERNS FROM DOCTORS ABOUT A POSSIBLE SPIKE IN COVID CASES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. MILWAUKEE COUNTY’S CHIEF HEALTH POLICY ADVISER, DR. BEN WESTON, POSTING ON TODAY ON THAT 104 PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY ARE CURRENTLY HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID. THAT’S FIVE MORE THAN JUST AFTER THANKSGIVING. DR. DAN SHIRLEY JOINS US NOW. HE’S AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT AT UW HEALTH IN MADISON. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS AFTERNOON. WE KNOW SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HOLIDAY GATHERINGS THIS TIME OF YEAR WHERE ARE WE WITH COVID? WELL, AS YOU MENTIONED, COVID CASES ARE ON THE RISE, AND THAT INCLUDES THE MORE SEVERE CASES THAT END IN HOSPITALIZATION. SO THAT’S REALLY WHERE, YOU KNOW, OUR INTERVENTIONS ARE TARGETED, TRYING TO PREVENT DISEASE. BUT ALSO THOSE SEVERE CASES, WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO MAKE SURE THEY STAY SAFE, THEIR FAMILY SAFE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON? WELL, NUMBER ONE IS JUST REALIZING THAT THIS COVID, ALONG WITH INFLUENZA AND RSV RISES THIS TIME OF YEAR. THIS YEAR. SO, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DO SEVERAL THINGS THAT PREVENT ALL OF THOSE. SO ONE IS JUST BEING AWARE OF YOUR OWN SYMPTOMS. SO IF YOU’RE SICK, STAY HOME AND STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE PEOPLE, AND NOW’S THE TIME TO THINK IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, ABOUT VACCINATION, ALL THREE HAVE VACCINATION TO SOME LEVEL, DEPENDING ON THE TIMING OF YOUR PREVIOUS VACCINATION AND YOUR AGE. SO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT THAT PART AND THEN JUST BE AWARE THAT YOU’RE IN GROUPS. IF YOU GO TO A HOLIDAY THING AND YOU KNOW, THERE MIGHT BE INSTANCES WHERE YOU MIGHT CONSIDER MASKING IF YOU’RE AROUND GROUPS OF PEOPLE THAT YOU DON’T KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH THE ELDERLY, IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PEOPLE, SHOULD WE GO BACK TO WEARING MASKS? YEAH, IT’S KIND OF A COMBINATION OF THOSE THINGS. MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE AROUND THE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PEOPLE ARE VACCINATED AND OF COURSE THE IMMUNO COMPROMISED PERSON THEMSELVES AND THEN BE AWARE OF SYMPTOMS FOR EVERYBODY AND MASK WHEN YOU, YOU KNOW, CAN’T SPREAD APART. OKAY. AND AND WHAT ABOUT THE FLU AND RSV? BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT’S A CONCERN AS WELL. RIGHT. SO BOTH OF THOSE HAPPEN TO BE RISING AT THE SAME TIME. THIS IS THE USUAL SEASON FOR THOSE. SO WE’RE A LITTLE BIT BACK TO NORMAL RESPIRATORY VIRUS SEASON. SO SAME THING APPLIES, YOU KNOW, VACCINATED. IF YOU HAVEN’T IN THE SAME INTERVENTIONS APPLY TO THOSE VIRUSES AS COVID. ALL RIGHT, DR. SHIRLEY, THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND EXPERTISE. WE APPRECIAT