Three Straight Days of Record COVID-19 Case Growth
Testing falls, but number of new cases keeps setting new highs. Why haven't hospitalizations followed suit?
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
For the third day in a row, Wisconsin set a new COVID-19 single-day case high. A total of 926 new cases were reported Saturday afternoon by the Department of Health Services, beating yesterday’s record high of 845 and a record 754 two days ago.
The record-setting case level comes as the number of tests processed has fallen for two straight days.
A total of 12,019 tests were processed over the past 24 hours, yielding a positive case rate of 7.7 percent. Wisconsin has averaged 9,807 processed tests per day over the past 30 days.
The 14-day positive case rate trend has now increased for 22 straight days, with the rolling average standing at 6.03 percent. The seven-day average is 6.47 percent. Public health officials have looked for those figures to trend downward as testing expands.
And while the number of new cases continues to grow, a lagging indicator of the disease’s spread, the number of hospitalizations, is holding relatively steady for now.
The statewide death toll grew to 821, an increase of seven over the day prior. An average of 4.63 deaths per day have been reported over the past 30 days, while the single-day total has ranged between zero and 14.
Both hospitalizations and deaths are seen as lagging indicators of the spread of the disease by public health officials, but the disease has recently been spreading primarily among young residents that require less hospitalization and have a lower death rate.
On May 28th, individuals in the 20 to 29 age group represented 17.47 percent of all COVID-19 cases. That figure jumped to 21.8 percent by June 27th and now stands at 25 percent.
Between June 27th and July 11th, the 20-to-29 age group accounted for 35 percent of all new cases.
Over the length of the outbreak, the second most impacted age group is individuals ages 30 to 39 (18 percent).
Individuals under the age of 40 now represent 54 percent of all cases, but only two percent of the deaths (17).
The younger age group also has a substantially lower hospitalization rate. Individuals under 40 have a hospitalization rate of three percent, while individuals 40 and older have a 19 percent hospitalization rate.
According to DHS data, 1,431.7 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 1,395.1) since the outbreak began. Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 1,230.6 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,210.2). Racine County has 1,190.4 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,180.2).
Kenosha (1,020), Walworth (730), Rock (632.4), Trempealeau (604.7), Dodge (582.2), Dane (544.3), Forest (532.3), La Crosse (493.8), Lafayette (466.1), Winnebago (447.3), Jefferson (415.8) and Waukesha (408.6) are the only other counties with more than 400 cases per 100,000 residents.
The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 617.5 (up from 601.4 yesterday).
According to data last updated Wednesday, Dane County has the fastest growing spread, followed by Milwaukee, Trempealeau, Walworth, La Crosse, Marquette and Brown counties.
There are currently 952 ventilators and 323 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 389 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 7/11/2020 | Percent of confirmed cases as of 7/11/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever hospitalized | 3,797 | 11% |
| Never hospitalized | 20,661 | 58% |
| Unknown | 11,221 | 31% |
| Total | 35,679 | 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 7/11/2020 | Negative as of 7/11/2020 | Deaths as of 7/11/2020 | Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 7/11/2020 | Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 7/11/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 37 | 1,788 | 2 | 184.3 | 5% |
| Ashland | 7 | 993 | 0 | 44.6 | 0% |
| Barron | 43 | 4,136 | 1 | 95.0 | 2% |
| Bayfield | 6 | 1,201 | 1 | 40.0 | 17% |
| Brown | 3,197 | 34,421 | 44 | 1230.6 | 1% |
| Buffalo | 13 | 1,138 | 2 | 98.7 | 15% |
| Burnett | 5 | 1,039 | 1 | 32.8 | 20% |
| Calumet | 151 | 4,020 | 2 | 303.2 | 1% |
| Chippewa | 132 | 6,627 | 0 | 207.4 | 0% |
| Clark | 99 | 2,549 | 7 | 287.0 | 7% |
| Columbia | 116 | 6,803 | 1 | 203.7 | 1% |
| Crawford | 45 | 2,677 | 0 | 276.3 | 0% |
| Dane | 2,884 | 83,969 | 33 | 544.3 | 1% |
| Dodge | 511 | 11,834 | 5 | 582.2 | 1% |
| Door | 53 | 3,122 | 3 | 193.2 | 6% |
| Douglas | 56 | 2,826 | 0 | 129.0 | 0% |
| Dunn | 54 | 4,022 | 0 | 121.4 | 0% |
| Eau Claire | 332 | 9,960 | 1 | 322.4 | 0% |
| Florence | 4 | 461 | 0 | 92.2 | 0% |
| Fond du Lac | 374 | 11,156 | 6 | 365.5 | 2% |
| Forest | 48 | 650 | 3 | 532.3 | 6% |
| Grant | 198 | 6,230 | 13 | 382.0 | 7% |
| Green | 106 | 3,394 | 1 | 287.5 | 1% |
| Green Lake | 42 | 1,873 | 0 | 223.9 | 0% |
| Iowa | 45 | 2,885 | 0 | 190.5 | 0% |
| Iron | 10 | 464 | 2 | 175.0 | 20% |
| Jackson | 34 | 4,099 | 1 | 165.8 | 3% |
| Jefferson | 352 | 7,910 | 4 | 415.8 | 1% |
| Juneau | 50 | 4,224 | 1 | 189.3 | 2% |
| Kenosha | 1,717 | 18,973 | 46 | 1020.0 | 3% |
| Kewaunee | 75 | 1,787 | 1 | 368.4 | 1% |
| La Crosse | 582 | 13,901 | 0 | 493.8 | 0% |
| Lafayette | 78 | 1,551 | 0 | 466.1 | 0% |
| Langlade | 10 | 1,548 | 1 | 52.2 | 10% |
| Lincoln | 21 | 2,108 | 0 | 75.4 | 0% |
| Manitowoc | 147 | 7,222 | 1 | 185.1 | 1% |
| Marathon | 268 | 8,231 | 1 | 198.1 | 0% |
| Marinette | 89 | 4,797 | 3 | 219.6 | 3% |
| Marquette | 49 | 1,326 | 1 | 322.2 | 2% |
| Menominee | 9 | 1,327 | 0 | 196.5 | 0% |
| Milwaukee | 13,661 | 123,536 | 398 | 1431.7 | 3% |
| Monroe | 130 | 5,372 | 1 | 285.7 | 1% |
| Oconto | 78 | 4,126 | 0 | 207.7 | 0% |
| Oneida | 28 | 2,874 | 0 | 79.2 | 0% |
| Outagamie | 633 | 17,598 | 9 | 342.6 | 1% |
| Ozaukee | 303 | 7,330 | 16 | 343.2 | 5% |
| Pepin | 14 | 648 | 0 | 192.8 | 0% |
| Pierce | 99 | 3,123 | 0 | 238.0 | 0% |
| Polk | 68 | 4,208 | 2 | 156.9 | 3% |
| Portage | 234 | 6,357 | 0 | 331.4 | 0% |
| Price | 8 | 1,107 | 0 | 59.3 | 0% |
| Racine | 2,326 | 30,612 | 65 | 1190.4 | 3% |
| Richland | 16 | 1,783 | 4 | 91.2 | 25% |
| Rock | 1,023 | 17,575 | 24 | 632.4 | 2% |
| Rusk | 11 | 906 | 1 | 77.6 | 9% |
| Sauk | 147 | 7,738 | 3 | 231.1 | 2% |
| Sawyer | 15 | 1,963 | 0 | 91.6 | 0% |
| Shawano | 94 | 4,583 | 0 | 229.2 | 0% |
| Sheboygan | 283 | 10,243 | 4 | 245.6 | 1% |
| St. Croix | 263 | 7,377 | 2 | 299.1 | 1% |
| Taylor | 17 | 1,195 | 0 | 83.5 | 0% |
| Trempealeau | 178 | 3,759 | 0 | 604.7 | 0% |
| Vernon | 40 | 2,980 | 0 | 131.1 | 0% |
| Vilas | 16 | 1,387 | 0 | 74.1 | 0% |
| Walworth | 752 | 10,795 | 18 | 730.0 | 2% |
| Washburn | 6 | 1,264 | 0 | 38.2 | 0% |
| Washington | 482 | 9,777 | 19 | 358.3 | 4% |
| Waukesha | 1,630 | 31,834 | 40 | 408.6 | 2% |
| Waupaca | 169 | 5,446 | 13 | 328.5 | 8% |
| Waushara | 43 | 3,918 | 0 | 178.3 | 0% |
| Winnebago | 760 | 19,797 | 13 | 447.3 | 2% |
| Wood | 103 | 6,051 | 1 | 140.6 | 1% |
| Total | 35,679 | 646,504 | 821 | 617.5 | 2% |
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