First cases of “community spread” of COVID-19 in La Crosse County, which got five new cases Tuesday

Along with the number of cases of COVID-19 doubling in La Crosse County, the first cases of community spread were also announced.

Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.

La Crosse County picked up the first two cases of this and the total number of those now confirmed with COVID-19 jumped from five to 10.

In regards to the two cases, the La Crosse County Health Department posted on Facebook, “No history of travel or contact with a lab-confirmed case has been found. We continue to actively investigate these cases.”

One community spread case is a man in his upper 20s, who had symptoms of the virus March 9. He wasn’t tested until Monday, as his symptoms got worse.

The other case is a man in his upper 70s who was also tested Monday. This man has had interstate travel history but not from a location with known community spread.

With all the new cases, the health department is in the early stages of investigating.

The other cases included a woman in her early 30s, had a travel history to a hot spot, along with two other females upper 30s to lower 40s, who were linked to a previously confirmed case.