Jeramey Jannene
Daily

State’s COVID-19 Death Toll Reaches 300

72 percent of those who've died have been 70 or older.

By - Apr 28th, 2020 02:38 pm
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COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the death of 300 Wisconsin residents according to figures released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS). A total of 19 deaths were confirmed in the past 24 hours.

The deaths have not occurred evenly by geography, race, ethnicity or age. DHS reports that 174 of the deaths (58 percent) have been in Milwaukee County, while the county represents only 16 percent of the state’s population.

Across Wisconsin, 33 percent of those who died have been identified as black according to state data, while blacks make up only six percent of the state’s population.

As has been true across the globe, those at the highest risk of dying are older and have underlying health conditions. Of the 300 deaths in Wisconsin, 72 percent have been individuals ages 70 or older. The 70+ age group makes up only 16 percent of the confirmed cases.

Testing has increased day-over-day with DHS reporting 2,432 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the third-highest figure reported. The state has now reported an average of 1,824 tests per day in April and 2,480 in the past week. DHS reports 49 labs across the state have a combined testing capacity of 10,992 tests per day.

DHS reported 208 new positive cases (6,289 total), a positive case rate of 8.55 percent, up from 7.57 percent yesterday. The state has averaged a positive rate of 9.66 percent across April. Officials are watching the figure as one of six key indicators to implement a phased reopening of the economy. “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.

The gap between the percent of cases for residents in Brown County versus other Wisconsin counties continues to grow. The county, which is anchored by Green Bay, now has 354.1 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 328.3 yesterday). Milwaukee County has 285.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 280.2). On April 16th, Brown County had only 53.5 cases per 100,000 residents while Milwaukee was at 204. Three residents of Brown County have died from the disease.

Kenosha County has the third-highest rate at 206.7 cases per 100,000 residents. Racine (157.6), Walworth (134.9) and Rock (110) are the only other counties with more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, but the statewide average has risen to 105.2. Six of the state’s 72 counties still do not have a confirmed case.

The cumulative hospitalization rate for those with confirmed cases stands at 23 percent (1,456 people) over the length of the outbreak after peaking at 30 percent, but the state does not have hospitalization data in 19 percent of cases (1,215 cases).

There are currently 926 ventilators and 447 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 916 ventilators and 452 ventilators as available.

Charts and Maps

Wisconsin COVID-19 summary

Status Number (%) of People as of 4/28/2020
Negative Test Results 63,535
Positive Test Results 6,289
Hospitalizations 1,456 (23%)
Deaths 300

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitilization status Number of confirmed cases as of 4/28/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 4/28/2020
Ever hospitalized 1,456 23%
Never hospitalized 3,618 58%
Unknown 1,215 19%
Total 6,289 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Gender Confirmed Cases as of 4/28/2020 Deaths as of 4/28/2020
Female 52% 40%
Male 48% 60%
Total Number 6,289 300

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Race Number of cases as of 4/28/2020 Percent of cases as of 4/28/2020 Number of deaths as of 4/28/2020 Percent of deaths as of 4/28/2020
American Indian 60 1% 4 1%
Asian or Pacific Islander 197 3% 5 2%
Black 1,486 24% 99 33%
White 3,316 53% 182 61%
Multiple or Other races 459 7% 3 1%
Unknown 771 12% 7 2%
Total 6,289 100% 300 100%

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Ethnicity Number of cases as of 4/28/2020 Percent of cases as of 4/28/2020 Number of deaths as of 4/28/2020 Percent of deaths as of 4/28/2020
Hispanic or Latino 1,509 24% 17 6%
Not Hispanic or Latino 3,944 63% 271 90%
Unknown 836 13% 12 4%
Total 6,289 100% 300 100%

Summary of COVID-19 cases by age group

Age Group (Years) Cases as of 4/28/2020 Ever hospitalized as of 4/28/2020 Any Intensive Care as of 4/28/2020 Deaths as of 4/28/2020
<10 57 5 0 0
10-19 159 9 0 0
20-29 905 57 7 2
30-39 1010 94 19 4
40-49 1079 151 35 9
50-59 1164 258 73 26
60-69 898 315 103 48
70-79 547 307 75 93
80-89 333 196 37 73
90+ 137 64 14 45
Total 6,289 1,456 363 300

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Wisconsin County Positive as of 4/28/2020 Negative as of 4/28/2020 Deaths as of 4/28/2020 Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 4/28/2020 Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 4/28/2020
Adams 4 148 1 19.9 25%
Ashland 2 122 0 12.7 0%
Barron 6 709 0 13.3 0%
Bayfield 3 169 1 20.0 33%
Brown 920 2,300 3 354.1 0%
Buffalo 4 176 1 30.4 25%
Burnett 0 81 0 0.0 0%
Calumet 10 353 0 20.1 0%
Chippewa 21 941 0 33.0 0%
Clark 20 202 3 58.0 15%
Columbia 27 712 1 47.4 4%
Crawford 3 202 0 18.4 0%
Dane 417 9,604 22 78.7 5%
Dodge 32 864 1 36.5 3%
Door 12 126 1 43.7 8%
Douglas 9 479 0 20.7 0%
Dunn 9 902 0 20.2 0%
Eau Claire 27 1,777 0 26.2 0%
Florence 2 21 0 46.1 0%
Fond du Lac 69 1,316 3 67.4 4%
Forest 0 52 0 0.0 0%
Grant 32 551 5 61.7 16%
Green 11 302 0 29.8 0%
Green Lake 2 171 0 10.7 0%
Iowa 7 245 0 29.6 0%
Iron 2 38 1 35.0 50%
Jackson 12 273 1 58.5 8%
Jefferson 42 843 0 49.6 0%
Juneau 13 320 1 49.2 8%
Kenosha 348 1,849 9 206.7 3%
Kewaunee 11 110 1 54.0 9%
La Crosse 27 1,959 0 22.9 0%
Lafayette 4 106 0 23.9 0%
Langlade 0 106 0 0.0 0%
Lincoln 0 173 0 0.0 0%
Manitowoc 11 337 1 13.9 9%
Marathon 17 632 1 12.6 6%
Marinette 7 345 1 17.3 14%
Marquette 3 158 1 19.7 33%
Menominee 1 40 0 21.8 0%
Milwaukee 2,722 13,512 174 285.3 6%
Monroe 14 707 1 30.8 7%
Oconto 8 267 0 21.3 0%
Oneida 6 271 0 17.0 0%
Outagamie 50 1,233 2 27.1 4%
Ozaukee 86 851 9 97.4 10%
Pepin 0 109 0 0.0 0%
Pierce 9 387 0 21.6 0%
Polk 4 262 0 9.2 0%
Portage 4 273 0 5.7 0%
Price 1 81 0 7.4 0%
Racine 308 2,021 12 157.6 4%
Richland 11 237 2 62.7 18%
Rock 178 1,745 6 110.0 3%
Rusk 4 116 0 28.2 0%
Sauk 44 724 3 69.2 7%
Sawyer 3 250 0 18.3 0%
Shawano 8 305 0 19.5 0%
Sheboygan 46 790 2 39.9 4%
St. Croix 13 471 0 14.8 0%
Taylor 0 97 0 0.0 0%
Trempealeau 2 469 0 6.8 0%
Vernon 1 375 0 3.3 0%
Vilas 4 130 0 18.5 0%
Walworth 139 738 8 134.9 6%
Washburn 1 158 0 6.4 0%
Washington 96 1,621 4 71.4 4%
Waukesha 321 3,436 16 80.5 5%
Waupaca 7 356 1 13.6 14%
Waushara 2 166 0 8.3 0%
Winnebago 48 1,153 1 28.2 2%
Wood 2 410 0 2.7 0%
Total 6,289 63,535 300 108.8 5%

-Data from the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

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