COVID-19 in Wisconsin: Cases still under 1,400, but....

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Wisconsin has marked a third day in a row of the 7-day average of new cases under 1,400. Overall, numbers have trended down over the past two weeks but very, so very slowly.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) put the rolling average Thursday at 1,390 cases per day. Compare that to 1,393 the day before, and 1,384 the day before that -- or 1,399 two weeks ago. Wisconsin isn’t losing or gaining ground against the COVID-19 virus.

We might see a change with people traveling for the July 4 holiday weekend, when people are traveling outside their home area, going to festivals and mingling in crowds. We saw a jump in COVID-19 cases within days of the Memorial Day weekend but it ended up being a very brief surge, as you can see on the left side of the chart below.

As always, health professionals are reminding people to take precautions, especially if they might be exposed to a person more vulnerable to the coronavirus, such as the elderly or people with weakened immune systems: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer if hand-washing facilities aren’t available.

The latest COVID-19 test results confirmed 1,738 new cases, which is in line with most of the daily numbers we’ve seen over the past few weeks. We’ve reported that the positivity rate -- that’s the percentage of all tests that were positive in the last 7 days -- has fallen between 11.5% and 11.9% for almost three weeks now. It was at the high end of that range Thursday, 11.9%, a little higher than Wednesday’s 11.8%.

No counties we’re tracking in WBAY’s greater viewing area avoided a positive test: 12 had new cases in single digits, 8 saw increases in double digits. You’ll find county-by-county case and death totals at the end of this article.

Waupaca County surpassed 12,000 cases (12,002) after the latest test results. That’s equivalent to 23.7% of the population of the county testing positive at least once since February, 2020. Two hundred of them have died, which is 1.67% of all cases.

Statewide, the COVID-19 death rate is 0.86% of all cases, slipping a hundredth of a point. Four more deaths were reported to the DHS, which says all four people died within the last 30 days. None was from Northeast Wisconsin. The 7-day average slipped from 5 to 4 deaths per day thanks to a higher number of deaths 8 days ago no longer being part of the equation.

Last week was the first time in 5 weeks that the state was notified of fewer than 30 COVID-19 deaths -- recent or not. We matched last week’s total of 18 death reports today, but depending on what happens in the next 24 hours it’s likely we’ll be under 30 COVID-19 deaths for a second week in a row.

There were 44 hospital admissions for COVID-19, higher than our calculated 7-day average which is 34 per day.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association, taking discharges and deaths into account, says there are 376 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized, including 49 in intensive care. That’s 3 more in ICUs than Wednesday but 3 fewer people in hospitals overall and the fewest people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment in two weeks.

The Northeast health care region hospitals saw no change; they’re treating 40 patients, including 4 in ICU. Fox Valley region hospitals have 14 patients, which is 1 fewer than a day ago, with none in intensive care.

COVID-19 vaccination numbers are slowly creeping up from last week’s lows. The exception is people completing their vaccine series, which we calculate fell to a new low of 204 per day over the last 7 days. Again, this naturally follows the lows for first-time vaccinations by three or four weeks, which is the time between first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. We could see numbers rise faster as parents get the pint-sized doses of COVID-19 vaccine for their youngest children.

Thursday’s Vaccinations by Age Group (and changes since last report)

• 5 to 11: 28.4% received vaccine/25.6% (+0.1) completed vaccinations/0.0% received booster
• 12 to 17: 62.1% received vaccine/58.7% completed vaccinations/21.1% (+0.1) received booster
• 18 to 24: 60.9% received vaccine/55.3% completed vaccinations/20.1% received booster
• 25 to 34: 64.7% received vaccine/60.1% completed vaccinations/26.0% received booster
• 35 to 44: 69.6% received vaccine/66.2% completed vaccinations/33.6% received booster
• 45 to 54: 71.9% received vaccine/69.1% completed vaccinations/38.7% received booster
• 55 to 64: 78.3% received vaccine/75.8% completed vaccinations/50.0% received booster
• 65 and up: 85.3% received vaccine/82.6% completed vaccinations/68.3% received booster

Thursday’s Vaccinations by County Population

To find free COVID-19 vaccination sites near you, text your ZIP Code to 438829. Visit wbay.com/vaccine for a list of health care organizations offering vaccine shots.

THURSDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS* (Boldface indicates change since the last report)

• Brown – 74,364 cases (+53) (428 deaths)
• Calumet – 12,122 cases (+6) (101 deaths)
• Dickinson (Mich.)** - 5,237 cases (91 deaths)
• Dodge – 25,551 cases (+26) (294 deaths)
• Door – 7,069 cases (+11) (62 deaths)
• Florence - 850 cases (+3) (17 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 31,320 cases (+37) (263 deaths)
• Forest - 2,603 cases (+7) (48 deaths)
• Gogebic (Mich.)** - 2,938 cases (40 deaths)
• Green Lake - 4,572 cases (+7) (56 deaths)
• Iron (Mich.)** - 2,470 cases (71 deaths)
• Kewaunee – 4,735 cases (+2) (43 deaths)
• Langlade - 5,270 cases (+6) (75 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 18,424 cases (+20) (162 deaths)
• Marinette - 10,171 cases (+7) (111 deaths)
• Menominee – 1,965 cases (+1) (15 deaths)
• Menominee (Mich.)** - 4,141 cases (61 deaths)
• Oconto – 9,647 cases (+6) (97 deaths)
• Outagamie – 45,048 cases (+44) (364 deaths)
• Shawano – 10,379 cases (+5) (131 deaths)
• Sheboygan – 31,331 cases (+39) (274 deaths)
• Waupaca – 12,002 cases (+12) (200 deaths)
• Waushara – 5,282 cases (+1) (70 deaths)
• Winnebago – 47,303 cases (+37) (339 deaths)

* You can find cases and deaths for all 72 Wisconsin counties on the DHS County Data website and for Michigan counties on the Michigan Department of Health COVID-19 website.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Hospital Association publish updates Mondays through Fridays. Michigan Department of Health updates county information on Tuesdays.

Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The Wisconsin DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times, whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

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