It is advised that community members stock enough medicine, food and toiletries to last two weeks should they be confined to their homes. Unessential shopping trips or excursions are not advised, and Rombalski suggests using delivery or pick-up options.

“Being in your house is where you need to be right now if at all possible,” Rombalski says.

Pfaff reminds individuals that while they might usually go to work with mild symptoms like a runny nose, this is not the time to power through and go to the office.

Molling notes it is “up to each one of us individually” to practice prevention tactics, including social distancing, thorough hand washing and sanitation.

The confirmation of local cases of COVID-19 will likely raise the level of concern among community members, and Molling urges people to “please remain calm. ... We don’t want hysteria.”

The results of any tests administered at Gundersen and Mayo will be relayed to the La Crosse County Health Department within one to two days, and the patient who tested positive will be notified first, followed by an alert to the media within one to two hours. The public will be kept abreast of all confirmed cases.