Oshkosh pandemic diary April 9: School district has distributed more than 36,500 free meals

This screen grab shows the school board during its April 8 virtual meeting.

By Miles Maguire
In the last three-plus weeks, the Oshkosh Area School District has distributed more than 36,500 free meals, mostly to students but also to parents and guardians and to younger children.

The meal count, which works out to almost 2,000 a day, reflects the role that the district plays, even in normal times, in providing food to low-income members of the community. Based on family income, many Oshkosh students are eligible for free or reduced-cost school meals.

The district started providing the daily meals March 17 because of the closure of schools due to COVID-19. Last week it expanded distribution of “grab and go” food to cover the weekends.

Three-quarters of the meals have gone to students, the costs of which are reimbursed to the district. The nonstudent meals are paid for through private donations.

School Superintendent Vickie Cartwright provided an update on the program during the school board’s virtual meeting April 8.

She said the program has received such generous support that it no longer needs donations from the community. Major gifts were provided by Dynamic Drinkware LLC, Humanity First USA, JEK Foundation and Service League of Oshkosh.

She also thanked the “frontline heros” who have been involved. “Countless food service staff, custodians, support staff and volunteers are making the free meal program possible,” she said.

Another test comes back positive
The number of positive test results in Winnebago County rose by one to 24, the Health Department said Thursday.

Separately the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported a statewide increase of 129 cases to a total of 2,885. A total of 112 Wisconsin residents have died from COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon, DHS said, an increase of 12 from the day before.

Clarification on religious services
The Health Department said that the guidance given earlier in the week that churches and religious groups could not hold parking lot services was incorrect.

It pointed to a statement from Gov. Evers that said that religious services would comply with his safer at home order if they were conducted in parking lots as long as congregants stayed in their cars. Other alternatives include holding gatherings of fewer than 10 people positioned 6 feet apart or streaming services online

Meanwhile the city is moving to help religious communities stream their services. According to the city, “Oshkosh Media and the Oshkosh Police Department are teaming up to provide local churches and faith communities the opportunity to air their programming on Oshkosh Media’s Life TV this Easter Sunday, April 12, beginning at 7 a.m.”

Interested groups should contact Officer Kate Mann at the Oshkosh Police Department at 236-5742 and kmann@ci.oshkosh.wi.us or Jake Timm at Oshkosh Media at 236-5261 and jtimm@ci.oshkosh.wi.us by Saturday, April 11, at 4 p.m.

Social distancing measure improves to “C+”
As of Thursday Winnebago County residents have improved their social distancing score to a“C+,” according to an analysis from Unacast, a company that specializes in GPS-based location data.

The company has modified its methodology to add a third indicator. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the company said it detected a 40% to 55% decline in average mobility based on distance traveled, which equates to a “C”; a greater than 70% decrease in nonessential visits, which it said now equates to an “A”; and a 40% to 74% decrease in encounters density compared to a national baseline, which it said works out to a “D.”