Jeramey Jannene
Daily

Positive Case Rate Falls, But State Wants It Even Lower

New webpage allows public to track progress on criteria in Badger Bounce Back plan.

By - Apr 29th, 2020 03:01 pm
Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported the second-highest one-day COVID-19 testing total on record Wednesday with 3,326 people tested. The figure trails only the 3,421 tests reported on April 24th.But the percentage of people testing positive was the lowest reported in over across the month. In the past 24 hours, 6.95 percent of individuals tested recorded a positive test, below the April average of 9.5 percent.

With the reduced percentage, 231 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 6,520 over the length of the outbreak.

The positive test rate is one of six criteria the state is monitoring as part of the Badger Bounce Back plan.

“The trend is the important thing,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases, during a briefing Wednesday. “We want to see a sustained move in the right direction. We have been a little flat going between nine and 11 percent.”

“What is the precise number? It depends on how widely we can do testing,” said Westergaard. He cautioned that expanding testing would drop the percentage, but a downward trend would still need to be established.

“Anyone that needs a test in the state of Wisconsin should be able to get a test and we really need our healthcare partners in the state to help us with that,” said Governor Tony Evers.

The state reported 50 labs across the state have the capacity to process 11,040 tests per day, the first time a capacity of greater than 11,000 was reported. The state has a target of 85,000 tests per week, over 12,000 per day.

A new state webpage provides public information on the state’s progress in meeting the criteria of the bounce back plan, including the number of people showing symptoms of COVID-19. But information on progress on criteria with regard to personal protective equipment supplies, contact tracing and testing results turnaround are missing. “Criteria are currently under development in partnership with Wisconsin healthcare stakeholders,” says the page.

The death toll from the virus has reached 308, with eight new deaths in the past 24 hours. DHS reports that 177 of the deaths have occurred in Milwaukee County.

The cumulative hospitalization rate for those with confirmed cases stands at 23 percent (1,489 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 924 ventilators and 451 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 intensive care unit beds as available.

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 373.8 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 354.1 yesterday). Milwaukee County has 295 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 285.3). On April 16th, Brown County had only 53.5 cases per 100,000 residents while Milwaukee was at 204.

Kenosha County has the third-highest rate at 215.6 cases per 100,000 residents. Racine (162.2), Walworth (151.4) and Rock (113.1) are the only other counties with more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, but the statewide average has risen to 112.8.

Charts and Maps

Wisconsin COVID-19 summary

Status Number (%) of People as of 4/29/2020
Negative Test Results 66,630
Positive Test Results 6,520
Hospitalizations 1,489 (23%)
Deaths 308

Percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Gender Confirmed Cases as of 4/29/2020 Deaths as of 4/29/2020
Female 51% 40%
Male 49% 60%
Total Number 6,520 308

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Race Number of cases as of 4/29/2020 Percent of cases as of 4/29/2020 Number of deaths as of 4/29/2020 Percent of deaths as of 4/29/2020
American Indian 61 1% 4 1%
Asian or Pacific Islander 205 3% 5 2%
Black 1,517 23% 101 33%
White 3,449 53% 187 61%
Multiple or Other races 470 7% 3 1%
Unknown 818 13% 8 3%
Total 6,520 100% 308 100%

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Ethnicity Number of cases as of 4/29/2020 Percent of cases as of 4/29/2020 Number of deaths as of 4/29/2020 Percent of deaths as of 4/29/2020
Hispanic or Latino 1,602 25% 17 6%
Not Hispanic or Latino 4,047 62% 277 90%
Unknown 871 13% 14 5%
Total 6,520 100% 308 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitilization status Number of confirmed cases as of 4/29/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 4/29/2020
Ever hospitalized 1,489 23%
Never hospitalized 3,755 58%
Unknown 1,276 20%
Total 6,520 100%

Summary of COVID-19 cases by age group

Age Group (Years) Cases as of 4/29/2020 Ever hospitalized as of 4/29/2020 Any Intensive Care as of 4/29/2020 Deaths as of 4/29/2020
<10 60 5 0 0
10-19 166 9 1 0
20-29 934 58 7 3
30-39 1051 94 19 4
40-49 1128 155 36 9
50-59 1202 263 75 26
60-69 935 327 105 48
70-79 556 313 78 96
80-89 345 199 38 77
90+ 143 66 14 45
Total 6,520 1,489 373 308

 

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Wisconsin County Positive as of 4/29/2020 Negative as of 4/29/2020 Deaths as of 4/29/2020 Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 4/29/2020 Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 4/29/2020
Adams 4 155 1 19.9 25%
Ashland 2 129 0 12.7 0%
Barron 6 724 0 13.3 0%
Bayfield 3 184 1 20.0 33%
Brown 971 2,566 3 373.8 0%
Buffalo 4 180 1 30.4 25%
Burnett 0 82 0 0.0 0%
Calumet 12 354 0 24.1 0%
Chippewa 21 962 0 33.0 0%
Clark 20 211 4 58.0 20%
Columbia 27 745 1 47.4 4%
Crawford 3 215 0 18.4 0%
Dane 424 10,323 22 80.0 5%
Dodge 33 890 1 37.6 3%
Door 12 128 2 43.7 17%
Douglas 9 494 0 20.7 0%
Dunn 9 933 0 20.2 0%
Eau Claire 27 1,795 0 26.2 0%
Florence 2 21 0 46.1 0%
Fond du Lac 69 1,332 3 67.4 4%
Forest 0 52 0 0.0 0%
Grant 35 751 6 67.5 17%
Green 11 314 0 29.8 0%
Green Lake 2 174 0 10.7 0%
Iowa 7 257 0 29.6 0%
Iron 2 40 1 35.0 50%
Jackson 12 282 1 58.5 8%
Jefferson 45 873 0 53.2 0%
Juneau 14 341 1 53.0 7%
Kenosha 363 1,865 11 215.6 3%
Kewaunee 14 120 1 68.8 7%
La Crosse 27 2,045 0 22.9 0%
Lafayette 4 109 0 23.9 0%
Langlade 0 106 0 0.0 0%
Lincoln 0 177 0 0.0 0%
Manitowoc 11 356 1 13.9 9%
Marathon 17 647 1 12.6 6%
Marinette 7 357 1 17.3 14%
Marquette 3 162 1 19.7 33%
Menominee 1 49 0 21.8 0%
Milwaukee 2,815 14,119 177 295.0 6%
Monroe 14 734 1 30.8 7%
Oconto 8 271 0 21.3 0%
Oneida 6 274 0 17.0 0%
Outagamie 54 1,272 2 29.2 4%
Ozaukee 86 890 9 97.4 10%
Pepin 0 111 0 0.0 0%
Pierce 10 397 0 24.0 0%
Polk 4 276 0 9.2 0%
Portage 5 282 0 7.1 0%
Price 1 81 0 7.4 0%
Racine 317 2,121 12 162.2 4%
Richland 11 245 2 62.7 18%
Rock 183 1,797 6 113.1 3%
Rusk 4 118 0 28.2 0%
Sauk 44 753 3 69.2 7%
Sawyer 3 253 0 18.3 0%
Shawano 10 316 0 24.4 0%
Sheboygan 46 828 2 39.9 4%
St. Croix 13 489 0 14.8 0%
Taylor 0 99 0 0.0 0%
Trempealeau 2 486 0 6.8 0%
Vernon 1 396 0 3.3 0%
Vilas 4 132 0 18.5 0%
Walworth 156 797 8 151.4 5%
Washburn 1 161 0 6.4 0%
Washington 97 1,686 4 72.1 4%
Waukesha 329 3,592 16 82.5 5%
Waupaca 8 364 1 15.6 13%
Waushara 2 171 0 8.3 0%
Winnebago 51 1,188 1 30.0 2%
Wood 2 431 0 2.7 0%
Total 6,520 66,630 308 112.8 5%

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

If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits, all detailed here.

More about the Coronavirus Pandemic

Categories: Health, What You Need To Know

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us