Jeramey Jannene

Wisconsin Records Biggest One Day COVID-19 Testing Total, 1,916 Positive Cases

Positives cases growing in linear, not exponential fashion.

By - Apr 3rd, 2020 02:36 pm
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COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

The Department of Health Services reported Friday that the approximately 40 labs processing COVID-19 tests in the state reported their biggest one-day total.

The state reported 2,242 people were tested for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, besting the previous high of 2,239 on March 28th. And state officials think they could be doing twice as much if needed.

“Our laboratory capacity does not seem to be a rate-limiting step,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the Bureau of Communicable Diseases, during a media briefing. He said testing would continue to be available for those that satisfy the criteria laid out in state testing guidelines, including those requiring hospitalization and healthcare workers.

The number of confirmed positive cases increased by 182 to 1,912, the second biggest one day increase, but at a lower percentage than the last two record days.

The state reported 22,377 Wisconsin residents have tested negative to date, up from 20,317 yesterday.

“The important part, clearly the number of cases is growing, but it’s growing in a linear fashion,” said Westergaard. He said rather than doubling (exponential growth), the daily growth rate is progressing steadily. Westergaard said the state viewed this week as critical for monitoring the disease’s spread based on outbreak data from China and other locations.

State officials have been monitoring a Wisconsin data model produced from data recorded earlier in  March. The model was posted on the state’s website for the first time Friday. Without interventions, including a “safer at home” order, the state’s model predicted 5,000 cases in the state as of April 1st and 22,000 cases on April 8th.

“It’s actually really encouraging that we are flattening the curve,” said Westergaard.

“While the numbers may not seem you are making a difference, believe me, you are,” said DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm.

Palm promised more data would be coming in its daily reports in the coming days. “The things we are most focused on are around the capacity of our health system,” said Palm. “The focus is knowing and understanding those variables at a local and regional level.”

The state added the hospitalization rate this week, which cumulatively stands at 487 cases (25 percent).

Charts and Maps

Wisconsin COVID-19 summary

Status Number (%) of People as of 4/3/2020
Negative Test Result 22,377
Positive Test Result 1,912
Hospitalizations 487 (25%)
Deaths 37*

Percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Gender Confirmed Cases as of 4/3/2020 Deaths as of 4/3/2020
Female 52% 43%
Male 48% 57%
Total Number 1,912 37*

Summary of COVID-19 cases by age group

Age Group (Years) Cases as of 4/3/2020 Ever hospitalized as of 4/3/2020 Any Intensive Care as of 4/3/2020 Deaths as of 4/3/2020
<10 6 2 0 0
10-19 19 1 0 0
20-29 225 10 2 0
30-39 268 31 11 1
40-49 313 55 14 1
50-59 371 84 25 6
60-69 372 127 46 5
70-79 211 104 30 12
80-89 99 58 16 9
90+ 28 15 3 3
Total 1,912 487 147 37*

 

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