New incentive for UW students on front line
About 1,000 University of Wisconsin students working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic will be eligible for a new tuition incentive.
“The new variant threatens to overwhelm our health care system,” University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson said in the news release. “Our students have stepped up in the past, and this is another opportunity for them to gain valuable experience while helping Wisconsin combat the latest coronavirus wave.”
On Wednesday, the state’s Department of Health Services reported 4,721 new COVID cases and 26 new deaths. The Wisconsin Hospital Association reported 1,633 COVID patients with 412 of them in intensive care units.
About 1,000 UW students who are currently employed or who become employed in a Wisconsin clinical or health care setting will be eligible for a $500 tuition incentive, according to a release.
To qualify, students must be enrolled at a University of Wisconsin System campus during the Spring 2022 semester; work a minimum of 50 hours in a Wisconsin clinical or health care setting, such as, a hospital, clinic, nursing home, long-term care facility, state or local healthcare facility or state veterans home between Dec. 1, 2021 and Feb. 28, 2022; and meet health care licensure and certification requirements.
Students must present a letter from their employer, verifying the type of work and hours worked, to their campus bursar’s office by March 31, 2022.
Qualifying students will receive a $500 tuition refund at the end of the spring 2022 semester, the release said.
Depending on demand and available funding, lower tuition reimbursement amounts may be necessary, according to the news release.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is going to provide $500,000 toward the incentive and the UW System is working to secure additional funding to expand the program, the news release said.
Latest COVID-19 numbers
New cases reported: 4,721
New deaths reported: 26
Number hospitalized: 1,633 (intensive care: 412); up 404 patients from a month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 3,417 (up 278 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of daily deaths: 27 (up 14 deaths from one month ago)
Seven-day average positivity rate — as share of all tests given: 11.8%
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 952,442
Total deaths: 9,804
Latest vaccine numbers
Total doses administered:
8,435,612
Daily doses administered: 22,653 Seven-day average of daily doses: 24,651
Total booster doses administered: 1,482,957
Daily booster doses administered: 16,933
Seven-day average of daily booster doses: 18,325
Residents who have received one dose: 3,591,936 (61.6% of population)
Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,378,349 (57.9% of population)
Residents ages 5 to 11 with at least one dose: 95,406 (19.6% of group)
Residents ages 12 to 17 with at least one dose: 250,598 (56.4% of group)
Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 305,708 (56.1% of group)
Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 450,236 (60.8% of group)
Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 481,683 (66.7% of group)
Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 486,417 (69.6% of group)
Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 627,963 (76.6% of group)
Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 893,910 (85.3% of group)
Variant cases of concern
The state Department of Health Services, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and other laboratory partners regularly perform genome sequencing on a portion of positive tests. The numbers below do not represent the total number of variant cases. Cases of the delta variant: 21,684 Cases of the omicron (B.1.1.529) variant: 29