COVID-19 Cases Double Since Memorial Day
State officials fear spread to older population could trigger surge in hospitalizations and deaths.
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
Wisconsin has added 16,972 positive COVID-19 cases since Memorial Day weekend. Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said it took the five preceding months to get to 16,500 cases.
“In just a little over one month that number has doubled,” said Palm during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon. It was the first such briefing since June 23rd.
The increase comes both as the volume of testing has increased, and the positive case rate, the percentage of tests that are positive, has climbed.
“We are currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the state,” said Palm.
“Staying home continues to be the best way to prevent getting and spreading the virus,” said Governor Tony Evers. “No party, no bar is worth it.”
The state recorded 495 new cases over the past 24 hours from 12,594 processed tests, a positive case of 3.93 percent. That’s the lowest percentage recorded since June 22nd, but the 14-day rolling average still ticked upward for the 19th consecutive day and now stands at 5.55 percent. The seven-day average fell to 5.96 percent.
The number of people actively hospitalized declined by one to 254 as 37 people were newly hospitalized. The figure remains near a three-month low of 235.
Both hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators of the spread of the disease, and both figures are influenced by the age and health of the individuals contracting the disease. The majority of cases in the past 30 days have been in individuals under the age of 40, while over 70 percent of deaths have been individuals aged 70 or older.
Should we expect the surge in new cases to result in a number of hospitalizations and deaths in the coming days? “I wouldn’t say we expect to,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases. “The danger is that these transmission networks are going to continue until they get to older folks.”
Across Wisconsin, 32,556 people have been confirmed to have the disease. DHS reports that 79 percent of individuals with a confirmed case have “recovered,” as defined by a documented abatement of symptoms or a diagnosis over 30 days ago. “The biggest driver of that recovery rate is time,” said Westergaard. He said most people don’t provide documentation of symptom abatement.
According to DHS data, 1,314.1 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 1,299.1) since the outbreak began. Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 1,182.5 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,173.7). Racine County has 1,153 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,135.1).
Kenosha (956.5), Walworth (680.5), Rock (585.4), Dodge (554.8), Trempealeau (475.6), Dane (473.7), Lafayette (454.1), La Crosse (444.6), Forest (443.6), Winnebago (425.5) and Waukesha (358.3) are the only other counties with more than 350 cases per 100,000 residents.
The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 563.4 (up from 554.8 yesterday).
There are currently 978 ventilators and 394 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 945 ventilators and 392 ICU beds as available.
Charts and Maps
Data from DHS.
Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status
| Hospitalization status | Number of confirmed cases as of 7/7/2020 | Percent of confirmed cases as of 7/7/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever hospitalized | 3,639 | 11% |
| Never hospitalized | 18,898 | 58% |
| Unknown | 10,019 | 31% |
| Total | 32,556 | 100% |
Summary of COVID-19 cases by age group
Data from DHS.
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 7/7/2020 | Negative as of 7/7/2020 | Deaths as of 7/7/2020 | Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 7/7/2020 | Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 7/7/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 33 | 1,695 | 2 | 164.4 | 6% |
| Ashland | 3 | 933 | 0 | 19.1 | 0% |
| Barron | 36 | 3,889 | 1 | 79.6 | 3% |
| Bayfield | 4 | 1,141 | 1 | 26.7 | 25% |
| Brown | 3,072 | 33,734 | 42 | 1182.5 | 1% |
| Buffalo | 9 | 1,056 | 2 | 68.4 | 22% |
| Burnett | 5 | 957 | 1 | 32.8 | 20% |
| Calumet | 125 | 3,803 | 2 | 251.0 | 2% |
| Chippewa | 118 | 5,532 | 0 | 185.4 | 0% |
| Clark | 87 | 2,291 | 7 | 252.2 | 8% |
| Columbia | 104 | 6,401 | 1 | 182.6 | 1% |
| Crawford | 41 | 2,519 | 0 | 251.7 | 0% |
| Dane | 2,510 | 75,706 | 32 | 473.7 | 1% |
| Dodge | 487 | 11,271 | 5 | 554.8 | 1% |
| Door | 49 | 2,957 | 3 | 178.6 | 6% |
| Douglas | 46 | 2,555 | 0 | 106.0 | 0% |
| Dunn | 47 | 3,751 | 0 | 105.6 | 0% |
| Eau Claire | 300 | 8,705 | 1 | 291.3 | 0% |
| Florence | 4 | 449 | 0 | 92.2 | 0% |
| Fond du Lac | 339 | 10,730 | 6 | 331.3 | 2% |
| Forest | 40 | 608 | 3 | 443.6 | 8% |
| Grant | 178 | 5,921 | 13 | 343.4 | 7% |
| Green | 100 | 3,160 | 1 | 271.3 | 1% |
| Green Lake | 40 | 1,802 | 0 | 213.3 | 0% |
| Iowa | 38 | 2,670 | 0 | 160.9 | 0% |
| Iron | 8 | 420 | 1 | 140.0 | 13% |
| Jackson | 31 | 2,990 | 1 | 151.2 | 3% |
| Jefferson | 292 | 7,312 | 4 | 344.9 | 1% |
| Juneau | 43 | 3,142 | 1 | 162.8 | 2% |
| Kenosha | 1,610 | 18,717 | 44 | 956.5 | 3% |
| Kewaunee | 64 | 1,649 | 1 | 314.3 | 2% |
| La Crosse | 524 | 13,084 | 0 | 444.6 | 0% |
| Lafayette | 76 | 1,441 | 0 | 454.1 | 0% |
| Langlade | 11 | 1,444 | 0 | 57.4 | 0% |
| Lincoln | 17 | 1,941 | 0 | 61.0 | 0% |
| Manitowoc | 122 | 6,843 | 1 | 153.6 | 1% |
| Marathon | 226 | 7,590 | 1 | 167.1 | 0% |
| Marinette | 71 | 4,610 | 3 | 175.1 | 4% |
| Marquette | 31 | 1,208 | 1 | 203.9 | 3% |
| Menominee | 7 | 1,248 | 0 | 152.9 | 0% |
| Milwaukee | 12,539 | 114,440 | 398 | 1314.1 | 3% |
| Monroe | 90 | 5,018 | 1 | 197.8 | 1% |
| Oconto | 69 | 3,840 | 0 | 183.7 | 0% |
| Oneida | 21 | 2,664 | 0 | 59.4 | 0% |
| Outagamie | 577 | 16,727 | 9 | 312.3 | 2% |
| Ozaukee | 273 | 7,165 | 15 | 309.2 | 5% |
| Pepin | 1 | 583 | 0 | 13.8 | 0% |
| Pierce | 77 | 2,898 | 0 | 185.1 | 0% |
| Polk | 61 | 3,894 | 2 | 140.7 | 3% |
| Portage | 200 | 5,793 | 0 | 283.3 | 0% |
| Price | 2 | 1,015 | 0 | 14.8 | 0% |
| Racine | 2,253 | 28,773 | 65 | 1153.0 | 3% |
| Richland | 15 | 1,645 | 4 | 85.5 | 27% |
| Rock | 947 | 16,544 | 24 | 585.4 | 3% |
| Rusk | 11 | 826 | 1 | 77.6 | 9% |
| Sauk | 123 | 7,311 | 3 | 193.4 | 2% |
| Sawyer | 13 | 1,897 | 0 | 79.4 | 0% |
| Shawano | 86 | 4,279 | 0 | 209.7 | 0% |
| Sheboygan | 245 | 9,575 | 4 | 212.7 | 2% |
| St. Croix | 231 | 6,769 | 1 | 262.7 | 0% |
| Taylor | 16 | 1,082 | 0 | 78.6 | 0% |
| Trempealeau | 140 | 3,603 | 0 | 475.6 | 0% |
| Vernon | 38 | 2,571 | 0 | 124.5 | 0% |
| Vilas | 14 | 1,292 | 0 | 64.8 | 0% |
| Walworth | 701 | 9,791 | 18 | 680.5 | 3% |
| Washburn | 5 | 1,217 | 0 | 31.9 | 0% |
| Washington | 443 | 9,613 | 16 | 329.3 | 4% |
| Waukesha | 1,429 | 28,789 | 39 | 358.3 | 3% |
| Waupaca | 145 | 5,215 | 10 | 281.9 | 7% |
| Waushara | 34 | 3,760 | 0 | 141.0 | 0% |
| Winnebago | 723 | 19,012 | 13 | 425.5 | 2% |
| Wood | 86 | 5,536 | 1 | 117.4 | 1% |
| Total | 32,556 | 601,012 | 805 | 563.4 | 2% |
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