Jeramey Jannene
Daily

COVID-19 Testing Data Sends Mixed Signals

Testing down, cases up.

By - May 19th, 2020 03:00 pm
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin in the past 24 hours increased by over 33 percent Tuesday, but the number of tests administered fell by 20 percent.

In total 3,933 processed tests resulted in 198 new cases as 5.03 percent of tests came back positive. That’s below the seven-day average of 6.02 percent and the 14-day average of 6.30 percent, but substantially ahead of yesterday’s report of 2.90 percent. Public health officials are looking for that number to steadily trend downward, even as testing increases.

But testing didn’t increase over the past 24 hours. The 3,933 tests processed were below the seven-day average of 5,394.71 and the 14-day average of 4,899.21.

According to the Department of Health Services, 12,885 Wisconsin residents have now tested positive for the disease, an increase of 198 from yesterday’s total. DHS data shows that 57 percent of those people have recovered, as determined by the case either being first diagnosed over 30 days ago or the state having a record of resolved symptoms. Since the outbreak started, 2,110 people have required hospitalization as a result of complications with the disease.

The death toll from the virus has reached 467, with eight newly-confirmed deaths in the past 24 hours. Four percent of people with confirmed cases have died from the disease.

Milwaukee County is the site of 5,076 of the 12,885 confirmed cases and 260 of the 467 deaths according to state data.

Both Brown and Racine counties continue to have greater per capita outbreaks than Milwaukee.

Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 815.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 809.1 yesterday). Racine County has 543 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 529.2). Milwaukee County has 532 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 524.5).

Kenosha (514.5), Walworth (278.6), Rock (270.8) and Kewaunee (152.3) are the only other counties with more than 150 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents has risen to 223 (up from 219.6).

There are currently 954 ventilators and 470 intensive care unit (ICU) 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 928 ventilators and 426 ICU beds as available.

Charts and Maps

Wisconsin COVID-19 summary

Status Number (%) of People as of 5/19/2020
Negative Test Results 148,237
Positive Test Results 12,885
Hospitalizations 2,110 (16%)
Deaths 467

Percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Gender Confirmed Cases as of 5/19/2020 Deaths as of 5/19/2020
Female 51% 42%
Male 49% 58%
Unknown 0% 0%
Total Number 12,885 467

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 5/19/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 5/19/2020
Ever hospitalized 2,110 16%
Never hospitalized 7,479 58%
Unknown 3,296 26%
Total 12,885 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 5/19/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 5/19/2020
Ever hospitalized 2,110 16%
Never hospitalized 7,479 58%
Unknown 3,296 26%
Total 12,885 100%

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Race Number of cases as of 5/19/2020 Percent of cases as of 5/19/2020 Number of deaths as of 5/19/2020 Percent of deaths as of 5/19/2020
American Indian 148 1% 6 1%
Asian or Pacific Islander 488 4% 11 2%
Black 2,587 20% 132 28%
White 6,928 54% 309 66%
Multiple or Other races 1,415 11% 3 1%
Unknown 1,319 10% 6 1%
Total 12,885 100% 467 100%

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Ethnicity Number of cases as of 5/19/2020 Percent of cases as of 5/19/2020 Number of deaths as of 5/19/2020 Percent of deaths as of 5/19/2020
Hispanic or Latino 4,028 31% 40 9%
Not Hispanic or Latino 7,457 58% 420 90%
Unknown 1,400 11% 7 1%
Total 12,885 100% 467 100%

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Wisconsin County Positive as of 5/19/2020 Negative as of 5/19/2020 Deaths as of 5/19/2020 Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 5/19/2020 Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 5/19/2020
Adams 4 399 1 19.9 25%
Ashland 2 331 0 12.7 0%
Barron 11 1,386 0 24.3 0%
Bayfield 3 333 1 20.0 33%
Brown 2,118 9,171 26 815.3 1%
Buffalo 5 508 1 38.0 20%
Burnett 1 309 1 6.6 100%
Calumet 58 914 1 116.4 2%
Chippewa 42 1,824 0 66.0 0%
Clark 29 568 4 84.1 14%
Columbia 36 1,517 1 63.2 3%
Crawford 23 598 0 141.2 0%
Dane 541 18,561 25 102.1 5%
Dodge 109 2,079 1 124.2 1%
Door 33 589 3 120.3 9%
Douglas 15 939 0 34.6 0%
Dunn 20 1,562 0 44.9 0%
Eau Claire 75 3,540 0 72.8 0%
Florence 2 217 0 46.1 0%
Fond du Lac 145 2,849 3 141.7 2%
Forest 9 250 0 99.8 0%
Grant 75 1,705 10 144.7 13%
Green 46 873 0 124.8 0%
Green Lake 11 462 0 58.6 0%
Iowa 11 516 0 46.6 0%
Iron 2 78 1 35.0 50%
Jackson 15 684 1 73.1 7%
Jefferson 62 1,765 2 73.2 3%
Juneau 22 682 1 83.3 5%
Kenosha 866 4,470 19 514.5 2%
Kewaunee 31 414 1 152.3 3%
La Crosse 47 3,593 0 39.9 0%
Lafayette 16 352 0 95.6 0%
Langlade 0 297 0 0.0 0%
Lincoln 3 346 0 10.8 0%
Manitowoc 25 1,202 1 31.5 4%
Marathon 34 1,671 1 25.1 3%
Marinette 25 1,160 2 61.7 8%
Marquette 3 331 1 19.7 33%
Menominee 2 168 0 43.7 0%
Milwaukee 5,076 28,834 260 532.0 5%
Monroe 15 1,537 1 33.0 7%
Oconto 30 968 0 79.9 0%
Oneida 7 543 0 19.8 0%
Outagamie 146 3,715 5 79.0 3%
Ozaukee 125 1,426 11 141.6 9%
Pepin 1 307 0 13.8 0%
Pierce 22 896 0 52.9 0%
Polk 7 837 0 16.1 0%
Portage 7 1,108 0 9.9 0%
Price 1 200 0 7.4 0%
Racine 1,061 5,463 19 543.0 2%
Richland 14 457 3 79.8 21%
Rock 438 4,475 14 270.8 3%
Rusk 4 212 0 28.2 0%
Sauk 77 2,219 3 121.1 4%
Sawyer 4 549 0 24.4 0%
Shawano 33 871 0 80.5 0%
Sheboygan 70 1,892 3 60.8 4%
St. Croix 48 1,753 0 54.6 0%
Taylor 0 242 0 0.0 0%
Trempealeau 11 979 0 37.4 0%
Vernon 12 782 0 39.3 0%
Vilas 4 286 0 18.5 0%
Walworth 287 2,084 11 278.6 4%
Washburn 1 346 0 6.4 0%
Washington 155 2,447 4 115.2 3%
Waukesha 492 7,665 23 123.3 5%
Waupaca 19 941 1 36.9 5%
Waushara 7 536 0 29.0 0%
Winnebago 126 3,144 1 74.1 1%
Wood 8 1,310 0 10.9 0%
Total 12,885 148,237 467 223.0 4%

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