Nearly 500 COVID cases linked to site of NBA Finals celebration

Officials cautioned that the cases cannot be definitively linked to NBA final celebrations, given that the cases covered everyone who visited the district at some point in July. State health officials are still currently overseeing contact tracing.

Kirsten Johnson, the city’s health commissioner, said in a news conference Tuesday that the Deer District reports comprise just a small fraction of Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 cases. The state reported 1,573 new cases on Wednesday alone, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

But Johnson noted that those 491 people likely transmitted the virus to others. “They were also going to bars and parties at friends’ houses and family events and people are gathering with others,” she said. “And that is going to cause a spread.”

Since the beginning of 2021, over 98% of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin occurred in people who had not been vaccinated, the department said in a July press release. As the Delta variant continues to spread around Wisconsin, health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated and continue to wear masks indoors or in highly populated areas.

“We urge Wisconsinites to get vaccinated,” Deputy Secretary Willems Van Dijk said in the release. “We must protect our children as they head back to school this fall, along with all other Wisconsinites who are at an increased risk for being hospitalized from COVID-19. Vaccines and the additional protection from wearing masks are the best combination of tools to achieve this goal.”