Wisconsin gets nearly 11,000 coronavirus test results: 1 in 3 positive – WBAY

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – For the first time in four days, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services received more than 10,000 coronavirus test results. And for the first time in 53 days, the number of COVID-19 patients currently in ICU is under 300.

The DHS reported 10,938 results on Thursday, and 1 in 3 came back positive for 3,643 newly identified cases. That’s above the 7-day average of 3,192 cases a day for the past week, and the 33.3% positivity rate is also above its 7-day average, which by our calculations is 31.9%. Cases were identified in 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.

Wisconsin’s COVID-19 death rate rose for a second straight day to 0.95%, erasing the progress since October 16. The death rate has been climbing slowly since Nov. 15, when it reached a low of 0.84%. The DHS reported 59 more deaths, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 4,255. The 7-day average held steady at 44 deaths per day, but 5 of the past 7 days have been above that average.

Deaths were reported in Calumet, Clark, Columbia, Eau Claire, Grant (2), Jackson (2), Kenosha (3), La Crosse (4), Marquette, Milwaukee (11), Monroe, Oneida (2), Outagamie (2), Portage, Racine (5), Sauk, St. Croix, Trempealeau (2), Vilas (2), Walworth (2), Waukesha (3), Waupaca, Winnebago (5) and Wood (3) counties, while the death count was revised in Rock County.

As always, county case and death numbers will be updated later in this article.

To date, a total 448,441 people tested positive for the coronavirus and 2,273,936 tested negative in Wisconsin. At our current 7-day average, Wisconsin could reach half a million cases around New Year’s Day, less than 10 months after the virus’s arrival in our state.

The number of recovered cases passed 400,000 (403,706), which is 90% of all known cases — a number and percentage that have been increasing since November. Another 40,378 people are still active cases, which is 9% of known cases.

The DHS acknowledges some of these patients who fall under the broad “recovered” category may still have lingering effects from their infection, such as “brain fog” or loss of taste or smell.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

The DHS reported another 129 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in the past 24-hour period. That’s right in line with the 7-day average of 130 hospitalizations per day. That moving average has been declining for 12 days now — a positive development.

Thursday, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reported 1,363 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, with 298 of them in intensive care. It’s the first time there have been fewer than 300 in ICU since October 25, when there were 276. COVID-19 patients in ICU peaked at 456 on November 16. Same-day COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked at 2,277 patients on November 17.

Hospitalized 24-hr change ICU 24-hr change
Statewide 1,363 -47 298 -16
Fox Valley region
(8 counties, 13 hospitals)		 80 -1 14 No change
Northeast region
(7 counties, 10 hospitals)		 114 +1 25 +2

Daily changes in hospitalizations take new admissions, discharges and deaths into account.

The alternate care facility at the state fairgrounds was treating 5 patients Wednesday, the same as Tuesday. The field hospital opened on October 14 to reduce the caseload at hospitals by accepting COVID-19 patients who wear nearing discharge but still needed care.

HOSPITAL READINESS

As of Wednesday, the WHA reported 14% of ICU beds and 15.6% of all hospital beds in the state’s 134 hospitals are open.

The Fox Valley region has 8 of its 104 intensive care beds open (7.7%) and 57 beds open overall (6.7%) — both sharp drops from Wednesday, when there were 16 ICU beds and 104 overall. There are no intermediate care beds available.

The Northeast region has 26 of its 207 ICU beds open (12.6%) and 176 beds open overall (18.4%).

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19, and whether a bed can be filled depends on whether the hospital has the necessary medical and support staff.

The number of hospitals with less than 7 days’ worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) remains largely unchanged: 18 hospitals need gowns, 14 need paper medical masks, 10 need goggles (one less than Wednesday), and 7 need N95 masks.

THURSDAY’S COUNTY CASE NUMBERS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold)

Wisconsin*

  • Adams – 1,227 cases (+15) (10 deaths)
  • Ashland – 912 cases (+6) (13 deaths)
  • Barron – 4,132 cases (+47) (50 deaths)
  • Bayfield – 859 cases (+12) (16 deaths)
  • Brown – 24,770 cases (+69) (155 deaths)
  • Buffalo – 925 cases (+8) (6 deaths)
  • Burnett – 934 cases (+9) (16 deaths)
  • Calumet – 4,453 cases (+20) (31 deaths) (+1)
  • Chippewa – 5,538 cases (+34) (63 deaths)
  • Clark – 2,582 cases (+34) (46 deaths) (+1)
  • Columbia – 3,951 cases (+39) (24 deaths) (+1)
  • Crawford – 1,489 cases (+10) (11 deaths)
  • Dane – 31,108 cases (+255) (136 deaths)
  • Dodge – 9,823 cases (+39) (95 deaths)
  • Door – 1,838 cases (+21) (13 deaths)
  • Douglas – 2,742 cases (+31) (16 deaths)
  • Dunn – 3,251 cases (+39) (20 deaths)
  • Eau Claire – 8,649 cases (+49) (67 deaths) (+1)
  • Florence – 382 cases (12 deaths)
  • Fond du Lac – 9,787 cases (+90) (60 deaths) (+1)
  • Forest – 791 cases (+3) (20 deaths)
  • Grant – 3,908 cases (+23) (75 deaths) (+2)
  • Green – 2,080 cases (+38) (7 deaths)
  • Green Lake – 1,313 cases (+11) (10 deaths)
  • Iowa – 1,540 cases (+26) (5 deaths)
  • Iron – 404 cases (+3) (10 deaths)
  • Jackson – 2,114 cases (+18) (8 deaths) (+2)
  • Jefferson – 6,137 cases (+34) (48 deaths)
  • Juneau – 2,239 cases (+21) (8 deaths)
  • Kenosha – 11,304 cases (+105) (187 deaths) (+3)
  • Kewaunee – 1,909 cases (+21) (22 deaths)
  • La Crosse – 9,384 cases (+87) (50 deaths) (+4)
  • Lafayette – 1,167 cases (+4) (4 deaths)
  • Langlade – 1,704 cases (+9) (29 deaths)
  • Lincoln – 2,248 cases (+21) (36 deaths)
  • Manitowoc – 5,651 cases (+49) (49 deaths) (+1)
  • Marathon – 11,133 cases (+57) (143 deaths)
  • Marinette – 3,380 cases (+36) (38 deaths)
  • Marquette – 1,110 cases (+2) (16 deaths) (+1)
  • Menominee – 677 cases (+11) (9 deaths)
  • Milwaukee – 79,396 (+740) (845 deaths) (+11)
  • Monroe – 3,148 cases (+35) (21 deaths) (+1)
  • Oconto – 3,569 cases (+30) (35 deaths)
  • Oneida – 2,652 cases (+21) (48 deaths) (+2)
  • Outagamie – 15,189 cases (+83) (147 deaths) (+2)
  • Ozaukee – 5,739 cases (+26) (45 deaths)
  • Pepin – 594 cases (+6) (4 deaths)
  • Pierce – 2,701 cases (+43) (23 deaths)
  • Polk – 2,754 cases (+15) (21 deaths)
  • Portage – 5,195 cases (+20) (45 deaths) (+1)
  • Price – 874 cases (+4) (4 deaths)
  • Racine – 16,227 cases (+135) (231 deaths) (+5)
  • Richland – 1,001 cases (+16) (13 deaths)
  • Rock – 11,172 cases (+170) (103 deaths) (deaths revised -1 by state)
  • Rusk – 1,037 cases (+8) (11 deaths)
  • Sauk – 4,129 cases (+59) (24 deaths) (+1)
  • Sawyer – 1,088 cases (+11) (9 deaths)
  • Shawano – 3,969 cases (+31) (53 deaths)
  • Sheboygan – 10,577 cases (+99) (83 deaths)
  • St. Croix – 5,038 cases (+24) (23 deaths) (+1)
  • Taylor – 1,500 cases (+11) (13 deaths)
  • Trempealeau – 2,786 cases (+11) (26 deaths) (+2)
  • Vernon – 1,376 cases (+19) (20 deaths)
  • Vilas – 1,476 cases (+13) (21 deaths) (+2)
  • Walworth – 7,105 cases (+78) (74 deaths) (+2)
  • Washburn – 927 cases (+8) (8 deaths)
  • Washington – 10,687 cases (+88) (89 deaths)
  • Waukesha – 31,630 cases (+293) (295 deaths) (+3)
  • Waupaca – 3,929 cases (+10) (94 deaths) (+1)
  • Waushara – 1,847 cases (+1) (13 deaths)
  • Winnebago – 14,427 cases (+75) (144 deaths) (+5)
  • Wood – 5,157 cases (+54) (36 deaths) (+3)

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **

  • Alger – 178 cases (+1) (1 death)
  • Baraga – 456 cases (+4) (28 deaths)
  • Chippewa – 476 cases (+6) (9 deaths) (+1)
  • Delta – 2,427 cases (+9) (56 deaths) (+2)
  • Dickinson – 1,905 cases (+14) (52 deaths)
  • Gogebic – 697 cases (+3) (12 deaths)
  • Houghton – 1,522 cases (+8) (17 deaths)
  • Iron – 740 cases (+2) (32 deaths)
  • Keweenaw – 68 cases (1 death)
  • Luce – 125 cases
  • Mackinac – 249 cases (+2) (1 death)
  • Marquette – 3,003 cases (+11) (48 deaths) (+1)
  • Menominee – 1,353 cases (+10) (22 deaths) (deaths revised -1 by state)
  • Ontonagon – 272 cases (14 deaths)
  • Schoolcraft – 189 cases (+1) (3 deaths) (+1)

* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The 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.

The DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their death. Most of the people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, which raises a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19. They would’ve lived longer if not for their infection. The state may revise case and death numbers after further review, such as the victim’s residence, duplicated records, or a correction in lab results. Details can be found on the DHS website and Frequently Asked Questions.

**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.

Symptoms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:

  • Fever of 100.4 or higher
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chills
  • Repeated shaking with chills
  • Muscle pain
  • Headache
  • Sore throat
  • New loss of taste or smell

Prevention

  • The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it. Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
  • To help prevent the spread of the virus:
  • Stay at least six feet away from other people
  • Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
  • Stay at home as much as possible
  • Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments
  • Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care
  • Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a mask. At a minimum, use a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.

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