COVID-19 Testing Remains High, Positive Case Rate Surges 28%
Brown County passes Milwaukee County for highest case rate. State reports biggest one day case increase.
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
One day after the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reported labs processed over 3,000 COVID-19 tests in a single day for the first time and saw the percentage coming back positive fall, new figures show testing remains strong, but the percentage of tests that were positive jumped 28 percent.
On Friday, DHS reported 304 new positive cases, but with only 8.89 percent tests processed coming back as positive, below the April average of 9.83 percent. “That’s the number that we want to see gradually going down,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases during a media briefing Thursday afternoon. And it had for two days, but Saturday’s positive rate was 11.43 percent.
Governor Tony Evers said he wants to see the figure fall 14 consecutive days before implementing the first phases of the plan, but wouldn’t necessarily reset the clock as a result of a one-day blip. “If there is reason to believe that one day was an anomaly we will take a look at that,” he said. For more on the six criteria being tracked as part of the Badger Bounce Back plan, see our coverage from April 20th.
With the expanded testing, the percentage of individuals with confirmed cases requiring hospitalization has fallen to 24 percent (1,376 cumulative hospitalizations). The number had peaked at 30 percent in recent weeks. There are currently 934 ventilator and 443 intensive care unit beds available across the state according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Since the data became publicly available on April 10th, WHA has reported an average of 911 ventilators and 453 ventilators as available.
The death toll from the virus continues to move higher, but the growth in confirmed deaths does not directly correlate to the daily testing report. The state reported 266 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon, with four new deaths in the past 24 hours.
Milwaukee County and its African-American residents continue to represent a disproportionate share of cases and deaths. Milwaukee County is the site of 2,525 of the state’s 5,867 cases and 157 of its 266 confirmed deaths. Data from Milwaukee County shows that 79 of the 147 deaths confirmed by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner have been of black residents. Of the 2,547 cases confirmed by the county, 1,139 are black residents. Individuals identifying as black represent 26 percent of Milwaukee County’s population.
But Milwaukee County no longer has the highest percentage of residents testing positive. Brown County, home of Green Bay, now has 277.2 cases per 100,000 residents after a large outbreak emerged centered around employees at a meatpacking plant. Milwaukee County has 264.6 cases per 100,000 residents. Kenosha County is third with 195.4 per 100,000 residents. Racine (130.5) and Walworth (128.1) are the only other counties with over 100 cases per 100,000 residents.
Charts and Maps
Wisconsin COVID-19 summary
| Status | Number (%) of People as of 4/25/2020 |
|---|---|
| Negative Test Results | 57,138 |
| Positive Test Results | 5,687 |
| Hospitalizations | 1,376 (24%) |
| Deaths | 266 |
Percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender
| Gender | Confirmed Cases as of 4/25/2020 | Deaths as of 4/25/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 52% | 41% |
| Male | 48% | 59% |
| Total Number | 5,687 | 266 |
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race
| Race | Number of cases as of 4/25/2020 | Percent of cases as of 4/25/2020 | Number of deaths as of 4/25/2020 | Percent of deaths as of 4/25/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian | 53 | 1% | 3 | 1% |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 170 | 3% | 5 | 2% |
| Black | 1,366 | 24% | 90 | 34% |
| White | 3,001 | 53% | 162 | 61% |
| Multiple or Other races | 373 | 7% | 2 | 1% |
| Unknown | 724 | 13% | 4 | 2% |
| Total | 5,687 | 100% | 266 | 100% |
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Number of cases as of 4/25/2020 | Percent of cases as of 4/25/2020 | Number of deaths as of 4/25/2020 | Percent of deaths as of 4/25/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,247 | 22% | 16 | 6% |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 3,656 | 64% | 242 | 91% |
| Unknown | 784 | 14% | 8 | 3% |
| Total | 5,687 | 100% | 266 | 100% |
Number of positive cases and deaths by county
| Wisconsin County | Positive as of 4/25/2020 | Negative as of 4/25/2020 | Deaths as of 4/25/2020 | Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 4/25/2020 | Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 4/25/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 4 | 133 | 1 | 19.9 | 25% |
| Ashland | 2 | 102 | 0 | 12.7 | 0% |
| Barron | 6 | 675 | 0 | 13.3 | 0% |
| Bayfield | 3 | 124 | 1 | 20.0 | 33% |
| Brown | 720 | 1,868 | 2 | 277.2 | 0% |
| Buffalo | 4 | 159 | 1 | 30.4 | 25% |
| Burnett | 0 | 74 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Calumet | 7 | 310 | 0 | 14.1 | 0% |
| Chippewa | 20 | 870 | 0 | 31.4 | 0% |
| Clark | 19 | 184 | 1 | 55.1 | 5% |
| Columbia | 27 | 654 | 1 | 47.4 | 4% |
| Crawford | 3 | 187 | 0 | 18.4 | 0% |
| Dane | 401 | 8,260 | 21 | 75.7 | 5% |
| Dodge | 23 | 790 | 1 | 26.2 | 4% |
| Door | 10 | 120 | 1 | 36.4 | 10% |
| Douglas | 9 | 446 | 0 | 20.7 | 0% |
| Dunn | 9 | 844 | 0 | 20.2 | 0% |
| Eau Claire | 24 | 1,680 | 0 | 23.3 | 0% |
| Florence | 2 | 18 | 0 | 46.1 | 0% |
| Fond du Lac | 67 | 1,222 | 3 | 65.5 | 4% |
| Forest | 0 | 46 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Grant | 28 | 509 | 3 | 54.0 | 11% |
| Green | 11 | 277 | 0 | 29.8 | 0% |
| Green Lake | 1 | 159 | 0 | 5.3 | 0% |
| Iowa | 7 | 228 | 0 | 29.6 | 0% |
| Iron | 2 | 37 | 1 | 35.0 | 50% |
| Jackson | 12 | 237 | 1 | 58.5 | 8% |
| Jefferson | 39 | 761 | 0 | 46.1 | 0% |
| Juneau | 12 | 289 | 1 | 45.4 | 8% |
| Kenosha | 329 | 1,675 | 7 | 195.4 | 2% |
| Kewaunee | 10 | 103 | 1 | 49.1 | 10% |
| La Crosse | 26 | 1,802 | 0 | 22.1 | 0% |
| Lafayette | 4 | 94 | 0 | 23.9 | 0% |
| Langlade | 0 | 87 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Lincoln | 0 | 165 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Manitowoc | 9 | 291 | 0 | 11.3 | 0% |
| Marathon | 18 | 585 | 1 | 13.3 | 6% |
| Marinette | 7 | 288 | 1 | 17.3 | 14% |
| Marquette | 3 | 144 | 1 | 19.7 | 33% |
| Menominee | 1 | 27 | 0 | 21.8 | 0% |
| Milwaukee | 2,525 | 12,210 | 157 | 264.6 | 6% |
| Monroe | 14 | 646 | 0 | 30.8 | 0% |
| Oconto | 6 | 240 | 0 | 16.0 | 0% |
| Oneida | 6 | 258 | 0 | 17.0 | 0% |
| Outagamie | 43 | 1,101 | 2 | 23.3 | 5% |
| Ozaukee | 82 | 798 | 9 | 92.9 | 11% |
| Pepin | 0 | 99 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Pierce | 8 | 357 | 0 | 19.2 | 0% |
| Polk | 4 | 237 | 0 | 9.2 | 0% |
| Portage | 4 | 257 | 0 | 5.7 | 0% |
| Price | 1 | 68 | 0 | 7.4 | 0% |
| Racine | 255 | 1,766 | 10 | 130.5 | 4% |
| Richland | 10 | 221 | 1 | 57.0 | 10% |
| Rock | 151 | 1,533 | 4 | 93.3 | 3% |
| Rusk | 4 | 107 | 0 | 28.2 | 0% |
| Sauk | 38 | 663 | 3 | 59.8 | 8% |
| Sawyer | 2 | 230 | 0 | 12.2 | 0% |
| Shawano | 8 | 290 | 0 | 19.5 | 0% |
| Sheboygan | 44 | 734 | 2 | 38.2 | 5% |
| St. Croix | 13 | 420 | 0 | 14.8 | 0% |
| Taylor | 0 | 83 | 0 | 0.0 | 0% |
| Trempealeau | 2 | 428 | 0 | 6.8 | 0% |
| Vernon | 1 | 340 | 0 | 3.3 | 0% |
| Vilas | 4 | 121 | 0 | 18.5 | 0% |
| Walworth | 132 | 670 | 8 | 128.1 | 6% |
| Washburn | 1 | 149 | 0 | 6.4 | 0% |
| Washington | 92 | 1,524 | 4 | 68.4 | 4% |
| Waukesha | 299 | 3,171 | 14 | 75.0 | 5% |
| Waupaca | 7 | 324 | 1 | 13.6 | 14% |
| Waushara | 2 | 147 | 0 | 8.3 | 0% |
| Winnebago | 48 | 1,037 | 1 | 28.2 | 2% |
| Wood | 2 | 385 | 0 | 2.7 | 0% |
| Total | 5,687 | 57,138 | 266 | 98.4 | 5% |
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