Jeramey Jannene
Daily

More People COVID-19 Tested This Week Than All of April

But COVID-19 data continues to send mixed signals

By - May 31st, 2020 01:26 am
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

COVID-19 data continues to give mixed signals in Wisconsin.

Case in point: On Saturday the Department of Health Services reported the greatest number of people newly hospitalized with a case of COVID-19 in over 50 days, but the number of people currently hospitalized went down.

DHS reports that 64 people were newly hospitalized in the past 24 hours, above the 30-day average of 35, but the number of people hospitalized decreased from 423 to 409. The number of people actively hospitalized has increased by 21 in the past seven days.

There have been 71 deaths from COVID-19 in the past four days, the highest total reported on any four consecutive days. But there were only 21 in the four days prior, the lowest four day total.

Testing data also has a mix of positives and negatives.

DHS reports that 66,932 people were tested in the past week, more than the 57,522 people that were tested in the entire month of April. But the week figure is over 18,000 short of the state’s goal of testing 85,000 per week. Only one day in the past week did the state exceed over 12,000 per day.

DHS reported Saturday that 9,843 tests were processed in the past 24 hours, the fifth-highest total on record. From those, 5.31 percent came back positive, an increase of 523 cases, the fourth-greatest single-day total.

The result was slightly above the seven-day and 14-day averages of 5.01 percent and 5.27 percent, but below the May average of 6.15 percent. Public health officials are looking for the percentage to trend downward as the number of tests increases.

Throughout the outbreak, 18,230 Wisconsin residents have tested positive for COVID-19. DHS reports that 62 percent have recovered, defined by a positive test over 30 days ago or a record of symptom abatement.

The death toll from the virus has hit 588 in Wisconsin, with 20 newly-confirmed deaths. Three percent of people with confirmed cases have died.

Milwaukee County accounts for 299 of the 588 deaths and 7,654 cases according to state data.

Both Brown and Racine counties continue to have greater per capita outbreaks than Milwaukee. Racine and Milwaukee counties have narrowed the gap with Brown County over the past week according to state testing data.

Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 892.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 888.4). Racine County has 877.2 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 845.4). Milwaukee County has 802.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 778.6).

Kenosha (692.1), Rock (390.7), Walworth (380.5), Forest (310.5) and Dodge (244.9) are the only other counties with more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents has risen to 315.5 (up from 306.4).

There are currently 957 ventilators and 344 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 935 ventilators and 417 ICU beds as available.

Charts and Maps

Wisconsin COVID-19 summary

Status Number (%) of People as of 5/30/2020
Negative Test Results 242,908
Positive Test Results 18,230
Hospitalizations 2,563 (14%)
Deaths 588

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 5/30/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 5/30/2020
Ever hospitalized 2,563 14%
Never hospitalized 9,961 55%
Unknown 5,706 31%
Total 18,230 100%

Summary of COVID-19 cases by age group

Age Group (Years) Cases as of 5/30/2020 Ever hospitalized as of 5/30/2020 Any Intensive Care as of 5/30/2020 Deaths as of 5/30/2020
<10 463 15 1 0
10-19 1,190 34 3 0
20-29 3,180 125 20 6
30-39 3,336 187 29 8
40-49 3,060 299 70 16
50-59 2,822 447 106 49
60-69 2,013 550 159 93
70-79 1,102 473 111 153
80-89 710 313 56 146
90+ 354 120 22 117
Total 18,230 2,563 577 588

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Data from DHS.

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Wisconsin County Positive as of 5/30/2020 Negative as of 5/30/2020 Deaths as of 5/30/2020 Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 5/30/2020 Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 5/30/2020
Adams 4 581 1 19.9 25%
Ashland 2 381 0 12.7 0%
Barron 17 1,989 0 37.6 0%
Bayfield 3 382 1 20.0 33%
Brown 2,318 14,954 37 892.3 2%
Buffalo 6 616 1 45.6 17%
Burnett 1 393 1 6.6 100%
Calumet 76 1,770 1 152.6 1%
Chippewa 56 2,722 0 88.0 0%
Clark 31 918 4 89.9 13%
Columbia 44 2,325 1 77.3 2%
Crawford 26 928 0 159.6 0%
Dane 725 29,861 29 136.8 4%
Dodge 215 4,132 2 244.9 1%
Door 38 1,399 3 138.5 8%
Douglas 19 1,082 0 43.8 0%
Dunn 24 2,116 0 53.9 0%
Eau Claire 108 4,444 0 104.9 0%
Florence 2 241 0 46.1 0%
Fond du Lac 203 4,931 5 198.4 2%
Forest 28 330 1 310.5 4%
Grant 95 2,546 12 183.3 13%
Green 66 1,579 0 179.0 0%
Green Lake 19 841 0 101.3 0%
Iowa 16 1,024 0 67.7 0%
Iron 2 250 1 35.0 50%
Jackson 17 1,105 1 82.9 6%
Jefferson 104 3,049 3 122.9 3%
Juneau 23 908 1 87.1 4%
Kenosha 1,165 7,585 30 692.1 3%
Kewaunee 34 703 1 167.0 3%
La Crosse 53 5,187 0 45.0 0%
Lafayette 27 554 0 161.3 0%
Langlade 2 625 0 10.4 0%
Lincoln 7 686 0 25.1 0%
Manitowoc 36 2,627 1 45.3 3%
Marathon 51 2,767 1 37.7 2%
Marinette 33 2,585 2 81.4 6%
Marquette 4 529 1 26.3 25%
Menominee 3 815 0 65.5 0%
Milwaukee 7,656 41,244 299 802.3 4%
Monroe 16 2,578 1 35.2 6%
Oconto 37 1,668 0 98.5 0%
Oneida 9 1,132 0 25.5 0%
Outagamie 223 8,452 8 120.7 4%
Ozaukee 160 2,663 11 181.2 7%
Pepin 1 371 0 13.8 0%
Pierce 45 1,337 0 108.2 0%
Polk 19 1,425 1 43.8 5%
Portage 11 1,694 0 15.6 0%
Price 2 340 0 14.8 0%
Racine 1,714 10,934 36 877.2 2%
Richland 14 819 4 79.8 29%
Rock 632 8,601 19 390.7 3%
Rusk 5 267 0 35.3 0%
Sauk 78 3,435 3 122.6 4%
Sawyer 8 1,163 0 48.9 0%
Shawano 46 1,899 0 112.2 0%
Sheboygan 88 2,997 3 76.4 3%
St. Croix 81 2,877 0 92.1 0%
Taylor 2 406 0 9.8 0%
Trempealeau 25 1,502 0 84.9 0%
Vernon 21 1,136 0 68.8 0%
Vilas 7 492 0 32.4 0%
Walworth 392 3,711 17 380.5 4%
Washburn 2 547 0 12.7 0%
Washington 248 4,380 7 184.3 3%
Waukesha 690 10,510 30 173.0 4%
Waupaca 39 2,319 1 75.8 3%
Waushara 8 982 0 33.2 0%
Winnebago 238 6,748 6 140.1 3%
Wood 10 1,819 1 13.6 10%
Total 18,230 242,908 588 315.5 3%

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