MADISON, Delete. (WBAY) – The latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) shows that COVID-19 virus cases and deaths continue to decline as the state set a new record for vaccination completion.
On Friday, the state received 5,545 results for people who were first tested or tested positive for the coronavirus. Not quite 17% of these (16.92%) were positive, the lowest positivity rate since late September. That identified 938 new cases in 68 counties. It’s the sixth time in 7 days that the number of new cases has dropped below 1,000, a series that Wisconsin hasn’t seen since Sept. 8. The 7-day average has fallen to 832, the lowest 7-day average since September 5. The DHS highlights the positivity rate for all tests – that is, including people who have been tested multiple times, such as health care providers and recovering COVID-19 patients – and by that measure, the 7-day mean positivity rate has dropped to 3.4% as of Thursday , the latest available data.
For a second day, the state added the deaths of 11 additional people to the COVID-19 death toll, which stands at 6,151. The deaths occurred in Calumet, Green, Jefferson, Kenosha, Marathon, Milwaukee, Oneida (2), Portage, Vilas and Winnebago counties. The seven-day average dropped to 19 deaths per day, a rate last seen on Oct. 16. The main readings thus fall to the lowest point in four and five months.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccinations are reaching new highs. The DHS says that 213,571 people have now received the second and final dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. That is 16,580 more than reported on Thursday, a record increase in one day. This brings us to about 3.7% of the state’s population fully vaccinated.
At this current rate, Wisconsin could reach 1 million “shots in the arm” of COVID-19 vaccines early next week, including the first and second doses. The state says vaccinators have administered 901,333 total doses in the past 2 months. That’s nearly 41,000 shots reported more than a day ago (40,944). These numbers may reflect the shots given in the past 3 days as vaccinators’ reports come in.
Action 2 News has compiled a guide to vaccination clinics and health agencies that distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 and older. CLICK HERE for locations and phone numbers and websites to register.
Since the first coronavirus patient in Wisconsin on February 5, 2020, 554,048 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus:
- 96.7% (535,627) recovered
- 2.2% (12,111) are active cases, diagnosed or showing symptoms within the past 30 days
- 1.11% (6,151) died
HOSPITALIZATIONS
DHS further reports that 55 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. That helped reduce the seven-day average to 66 new patients per day. That is also close to a 5-month low. In the past 53 weeks, a total of 25,197 people have been hospitalized for treatment with COVID-19, or 4.5% of all cases.
Taking into account deaths and layoffs, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reports that there are currently 461 COVID-19 patients among 134 state hospitals, with 120 in intensive care Friday. That’s 9 fewer in the ICU and 28 fewer COVID-19 patients in hospitals in general. Both are the fewest since the last 10 days of September.
Hospital admissions in the Fox Valley went up. The 13 hospitals are treating 28 COVID-19 patients, 4 more than Thursday, with 7 in the ICU, which is 1 more than Thursday.
On Friday, the situation in the Northeast region improved slightly. The 10 hospitals in the 7th district region treated 48 COVID-19 patients, 7 less than Thursday, 13 of them in the ICU, down from 2.
READY FOR THE HOSPITAL
In terms of hospital readiness, the WHA reports that 294 beds in the state’s intensive care unit are unoccupied – that’s 1 in 5 – and 2,102 (18.8%) of all medical beds (ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative current isolation) are open.
The Fox Valley region’s 13 hospitals reported 12 open ICU beds (11.5%), and a total of 102 unoccupied medical beds (12.0%) for the eight counties they serve.
Hospitals in the North East region had 43 ICU beds (20.1%) open and 172 of all medical beds (18.0%) were unoccupied.
These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. We use the terms “open” or “unoccupied” instead of “available,” because whether a bed can be filled depends on whether hospitals have staff in that bed for a patient, including doctors, nurses and food services.
FRIDAY COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold
Wisconsin
- Adams – 1,542 cases (+1) (11 dead)
- Ashland – 1,168 cases (+1 (16 dead)
- Barron – 5225 cases (+8) (74 dead)
- Bayfield – 1059 cases (+2) (18 killed)
- Brown – 29,850 chests (+58) (202 dead)
- Buffalo – 1,304 boxes (+2) (7 dead)
- Burnett – 1,141 Chests (+6) (23 dead)
- Calumet – 5,380 cases (+10) (41 deaths) (+1)
- Chippewa – 6,954 boxes (+10) (87 dead)
- Clark – 3,136 suitcases (+5) (56 dead)
- Columbia – 4,945 suitcases (+11) (47 dead)
- Crawford – 1,652 cases (+2) (17 dead)
- Dane – 39,124 (+85) (264 killed)
- Dodge – 11,301 suitcases (+4) (154 dead)
- By – 2,390 cases (19 deaths) (cases revised -1 by state)
- Douglas – 3,630 cases (+1) (23 dead)
- Dunn – 4,168 suitcases (+12) (26 dead)
- Eau Claire – 10,826 cells (+11) (104 dead)
- Florence – 430 cases (12 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 11,781 squares (+21) (88 killed)
- Forest – 917 cases (+1) (23 dead)
- Grant – 4,587 cases (+11) (79 dead)
- Green – 2,942 deaths (+26) (16 deaths) (+1)
- Green Lake – 1,515 cases (+2) (18 killed)
- Iowa – 1,828 cases (+1) (9 dead)
- Iron – 514 boxes (+5) (19 dead)
- Jackson – 2,567 suitcases (+7) (23 dead)
- Jefferson – 7,744 cases (+17) (75 killed) (+1)
- Juneau – 2,950 suitcases (+9) (18 killed)
- Kenosha – 14,567 cases (+21) (287 deaths) (+1)
- Kewaunee – 2,398 Chests (+2) (27 dead)
- La Crosse – 12,008 houses (+12) (75 dead)
- Lafayette – 1,405 Chests (+4) (7 dead)
- Langlade – 1,916 cases (+1) (31 dead)
- Lincoln – 2,863 suitcases (+3) (56 dead)
- Manitowoc – 7,136 cases (+11) (61 killed)
- Marathon – 13,460 cases (+11) (171 deaths) (+1)
- Marinette – 3,949 boxes (+6) (61 killed)
- Marquette – 1,291 cases (+1) (21 dead)
- Menominee – 792 cases (11 dead)
- Milwaukee – 96,811 (+146) (1,186 dead) (+1)
- Monroe – 4,204 suitcases (+11) (30 dead)
- Oconto – 4,211 cases (+8) (47 dead)
- Oneida – 3,292 cases (+7) (64 deaths) (+2)
- Outagamy – 18,859 Chests (+29) (186 killed)
- Ozaukee – 7,510 Chests (+7) (73 dead)
- Pepijn – 791 boxes (+2) (7 dead)
- Pierce – 3,405 boxes (+5) (33 dead)
- Polk – 3,751 suitcases (+19) (43 dead)
- Portage – 6,337 cases (+16) (63 deaths) (+1)
- Price – 1,129 boxes (+2) (7 dead)
- Racine – 20,094 suitcases (+17) (314 killed)
- Richland – 1,255 cases (+3) (13 dead)
- Rock – 14,119 Chests (+33) (148 dead)
- Rusk – 1,240 cases (16 killed)
- Sauk – 5,168 suitcases (+4) (38 dead)
- Sawyer – 1,455 suitcases (+3) (19 dead)
- Shawano – 4,548 cases (+5) (69 dead)
- Sheboygan – 12,644 cases (+23) (125 dead)
- Croix – 6,244 chests (+4) (42 dead)
- Taylor – 1,781 cases (+3) (20 dead)
- Trempealeau – 3,344 boxes (+5) (36 dead)
- Vernon – 1,791 cases (+3) (36 dead)
- Vilas – 2,053 deaths (+8) (36 deaths) (+1)
- Walworth – 8733 cases (+14) (124 dead)
- Washburn – 1,266 cases (+6) (18 killed)
- Washington – 13,555 cases (+14) (128 dead)
- Waukesha – 39,920 suitcases (+88) (466 killed)
- Waupaca – 4,709 boxes (+7) (110 dead)
- Waushara – 2,082 cases (+4) (28 dead)
- Winnebago – 16,792 cases (+25) (177 deaths) (+1)
- Wood – 6,600 boxes (+17) (72 dead)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **
- Alger – 275 cases (1 death)
- Baraga – 499 sleeves (+2) (31 dead)
- Chippewa – 707 cases (20 deaths)
- Delta – 2,631 cases (+1) (65 dead)
- Dickinson – 2,118 cases (+2) (55 dead)
- Gogebic – 897 suitcases (+5) (18 killed)
- Houghton – 2,035 cases (+7) (32 dead)
- Iron – 863 suitcases (+1) (39 dead)
- Keweenaw – 110 cases (1 death) (cases reviewed -2 by state)
- Luce – 132 cases
- Mackinac – 279 cases (3 dead)
- Marquette – 3,437 cases (+5) (54 dead)
- Menominee – 1,606 cases (35 deaths)
- Ontonagon – 353 suitcases (+1) (18 killed)
- Schoolcraft – 229 cases (4 deaths)
* Cases and deaths are from the DHS COVID-19 daily reports, which may differ from the local health department numbers. DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county boundaries, including public health, municipal, and county health departments; provincial websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at different times, while the DHS freezes the numbers it receives at the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.
DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their deaths. Most people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, or obesity, which increase the risk of death from COVID-19. They would have lived longer without their infection. The state can revise case and death numbers after further investigation, such as the victim’s place of residence, duplicated data, or a correction in laboratory results. Details can be found on the DHS website and on the FAQs.
** The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s figures include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.
COVID-19 tracking app
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 discovery app, “Wisconsin Exposure Notification,” is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough long enough, they anonymously share a random string of numbers over Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, they will receive a code to type into the app. If your phones have pinged each other in the last 14 days, you will receive a push notification that you are at risk. The app does not collect any personal information or location data, so you don’t know from whom or where, but it does tell you what day the exposure could have occurred, so you can quarantine the correct time.
Symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified the following possible symptoms of COVID-19:
- Fever of 100.4 or higher
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Repeated shaking with chills
- muscle strain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
Prevention
- The coronavirus is a new or ‘new’ virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it.
- Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. According to the CDC, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk. Precautions are also needed in 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, performance dates and non-essential appointments
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