MINNEAPOLIS — When Winona County Emergency Management suddenly posted a travel advisory for La Crosse County this week, it wasn't picking on its Wisconsin neighbor.
"We're not looking down Wisconsin at all, we're just asking people to not add to a problem," said Winona County Emergency Management Coordinator Ben Klinger.
Klinger says the advisory, which is not an enforcement effort, was actually sent out at the request of the La Crosse County Public Health Department, which is dealing with a high COVID-19 activity level. The county has been averaging more than 115 cases per day and a 34 percent positivity rate over the past week.
"They asked us to help get the word out about people not traveling to La Crosse," Klinger said. "This weekend is historically La Crosse's Oktoberfest weekend, which they did cancel and they were concerned that a large amount of people would come to town and still celebrate."
For some living in La Crosse, the advisory is welcomed.
"I went from knowing no one who had COVID cases, as far as friends in La Crosse area, to knowing close to a dozen within a week," said Adam Vlach, who is recovering from Covid-19 himself.
Vlach is a student at UW La Crosse, the epicenter of the outbreak. He, and all students, are now part of a shelter in place order issued by the University. As he and his roommates stay inside, he says outside information has been hard to keep track of.
"It's chaotic because the public health department and the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and just the city, in general, is kind of bursting at the seams," Vlach said. "They're not prepared for the level of cases we've had."
Last week the La Crosse County Health Department stopped updating its outbreaks and investigations web page citing 'a rapid influx of cases'. The announcement went on to state, "You should assume that you will come into contact with COVID-19 whenever you interact with people outside of your household because we have widespread COVID-19 activity in our community."
Vlach says the travel advisory from Winona County makes sense since many students and families frequently cross the border. He also points out that it's not the only strategy La Crosse has tried.
Yesterday the county shared a Cameo video recorded by actor Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin on the NBC sitcom 'The Office'. In the video, apparently paid for by the health department, Baumgartner referenced a memorable scene from the show in which he spilled a pot of chili.
"The La Crosse County Health Department says right now, everybody, every single one of us are spilling chili, metaphorically, of course," Baumgartner said. "Stop spilling the chili. Wear a mask, wash your hands, stay apart, do your part to end COVID-19."
Vlach said the video amounts to a Hail Mary.
"The message from Kevin from the Office was clearly... nothing else is working, let's just try this," Vlach said. "Let's try to get a celebrity Cameo to help with containing COVID cases because people just don't really know what to do and the cases keep rising."
So far, it doesn't appear as though too much "chili" has been spilled across the border in Winona County. Klinger says 25 hundred tests were conducted at Winona State and around the community last week. He says there have only been about 70 positives so far, a positivity rate of less than 3%.
"The virus doesn't know borders, so we're just asking people to be cautious and you don't need to travel to a hot spot, don't travel to a hot spot," Klinger said.