Milwaukee Has Worst COVID-19 Outbreak In State, Gap Widening
821 new cases reported in Wisconsin on Wednesday.
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
Milwaukee County’s COVID-19 outbreak remains the worst in the state on a per-capita and total number basis. But of greater concern, data released Wendesday by the state Department of Health Services shows that the county is now pulling away from the other 71 Wisconsin counties.
On a per-capita basis twice as many residents in Milwaukee contracted COVID-19 in the past two week than Brown County, which has the second greatest per-capita rate since the start of the outbreak.
Milwaukee County has logged 340 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, bringing its total to 1,538.3 per 100,000 residents. Brown County has logged 170 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks (1,288 overall), the 11th highest figure in the state. Racine, which has the third-greatest outbreak (1,237), has recorded 120 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, the 26th highest total.
The news comes as Wisconsin continues to set new highs in new COVID-19 cases.
Six times in the past week Wisconsin has recorded over 750 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19. The 750-case threshold is one the state had never crossed before this week.
What are the other counties with state-leading spreads currently? By-and-large small counties. Trempealeau County, population 29,442, recorded 260 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks. Marquette County, population 15,434, recorded 39 new cases in the past week, a total sufficient to boost its total by 250 cases per 100,000 residents.
The fourth-place county is a large one though. Dane County recorded 240 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks. It now has the eighth-worst outbreak in the state over the length of the pandemic.
The activity level report, updated every Wednesday by DHS, comes as the department reported 821 people tested positive for the disease from 13,925 positive tests in the past 24 hours, a positive case rate of 5.90 percent.
The 14-day positive case rate, on a 26-day upward trend since hitting a low 2.69 percent on June 19th, now stands at 6.61 percent. The seven-day average is 6.9 percent.
The number of people actively hospitalized is trending upward since hitting a three-month low of 235 on July 4th. The Wisconsin Hospital Association reported Wednesday that 295 people are currently hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease. A total of 31 people were newly admitted with a positive case in the past 24 hours, above the 30-day average of 29.
DHS reported one new death, with the statewide total now at 827.
The majority of new cases remain concentrated in individuals under the age of 40 who have a lower hospitalization rate and lower death rate.
A total of 38,727 people have tested positive for the disease since the outbreak began with 15,795 in the past 30 days and 5,573 in the past week. DHS reports that 77 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 percent fell from a high of 79 as a surge in new cases has been reported.
According to DHS data, 1,538.3 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 1,509) since the outbreak began. Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 1,288.8 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,272.9). Racine County has 1,237.5 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,223.7).
Kenosha (1,087.7), Walworth (791.2), Rock (668.2), Trempealeau (659), Dane (611.9), Dodge (611.8), Forest (543.4), La Crosse (524.4), Lafayette (501.9), Winnebago (473.1), Waukesha (470.8) and Jefferson (453.6) are the only other counties with more than 450 cases per 100,000 residents.
The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 670.2 (up from 656 yesterday).
There are currently 978 ventilators and 329 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 946 ventilators and 388 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 7/15/2020 | Percent of confirmed cases as of 7/15/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever hospitalized | 3,923 | 10% |
| Never hospitalized | 22,132 | 57% |
| Unknown | 12,672 | 33% |
| Total | 38,727 | 100% |
Percent of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization with 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 7/15/2020 | Negative as of 7/15/2020 | Deaths as of 7/15/2020 | Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 7/15/2020 | Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 7/15/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 45 | 1,885 | 2 | 224.2 | 4% |
| Ashland | 8 | 1,167 | 0 | 50.9 | 0% |
| Barron | 54 | 4,246 | 1 | 119.3 | 2% |
| Bayfield | 11 | 1,437 | 1 | 73.4 | 9% |
| Brown | 3,348 | 35,851 | 44 | 1288.8 | 1% |
| Buffalo | 21 | 1,203 | 2 | 159.5 | 10% |
| Burnett | 5 | 1,106 | 1 | 32.8 | 20% |
| Calumet | 165 | 4,257 | 2 | 331.3 | 1% |
| Chippewa | 145 | 7,930 | 0 | 227.9 | 0% |
| Clark | 121 | 2,776 | 7 | 350.8 | 6% |
| Columbia | 129 | 7,246 | 1 | 226.5 | 1% |
| Crawford | 46 | 2,778 | 0 | 282.4 | 0% |
| Dane | 3,242 | 88,640 | 33 | 611.9 | 1% |
| Dodge | 537 | 12,450 | 5 | 611.8 | 1% |
| Door | 65 | 3,274 | 3 | 236.9 | 5% |
| Douglas | 64 | 3,329 | 0 | 147.5 | 0% |
| Dunn | 59 | 4,223 | 0 | 132.6 | 0% |
| Eau Claire | 351 | 10,989 | 1 | 340.8 | 0% |
| Florence | 5 | 470 | 0 | 115.3 | 0% |
| Fond du Lac | 405 | 11,613 | 6 | 395.8 | 1% |
| Forest | 49 | 696 | 3 | 543.4 | 6% |
| Grant | 223 | 6,903 | 13 | 430.3 | 6% |
| Green | 110 | 3,610 | 1 | 298.4 | 1% |
| Green Lake | 43 | 1,957 | 0 | 229.2 | 0% |
| Iowa | 47 | 3,095 | 0 | 199.0 | 0% |
| Iron | 21 | 514 | 1 | 367.5 | 5% |
| Jackson | 37 | 4,247 | 1 | 180.4 | 3% |
| Jefferson | 384 | 8,746 | 4 | 453.6 | 1% |
| Juneau | 59 | 4,377 | 1 | 223.3 | 2% |
| Kenosha | 1,831 | 20,372 | 47 | 1087.7 | 3% |
| Kewaunee | 86 | 1,880 | 1 | 422.4 | 1% |
| La Crosse | 618 | 14,208 | 0 | 524.4 | 0% |
| Lafayette | 84 | 1,636 | 0 | 501.9 | 0% |
| Langlade | 11 | 1,588 | 1 | 57.4 | 9% |
| Lincoln | 24 | 2,319 | 0 | 86.2 | 0% |
| Manitowoc | 167 | 7,671 | 1 | 210.3 | 1% |
| Marathon | 312 | 8,937 | 1 | 230.7 | 0% |
| Marinette | 126 | 5,163 | 3 | 310.8 | 2% |
| Marquette | 55 | 1,428 | 1 | 361.7 | 2% |
| Menominee | 10 | 1,392 | 0 | 218.4 | 0% |
| Milwaukee | 14,679 | 131,661 | 403 | 1538.3 | 3% |
| Monroe | 145 | 5,686 | 1 | 318.7 | 1% |
| Oconto | 101 | 4,359 | 0 | 268.9 | 0% |
| Oneida | 38 | 3,075 | 0 | 107.5 | 0% |
| Outagamie | 719 | 18,695 | 9 | 389.2 | 1% |
| Ozaukee | 340 | 7,631 | 16 | 385.1 | 5% |
| Pepin | 18 | 705 | 0 | 247.9 | 0% |
| Pierce | 113 | 3,335 | 0 | 271.6 | 0% |
| Polk | 74 | 4,367 | 2 | 170.7 | 3% |
| Portage | 260 | 6,816 | 0 | 368.3 | 0% |
| Price | 9 | 1,218 | 0 | 66.7 | 0% |
| Racine | 2,418 | 32,119 | 65 | 1237.5 | 3% |
| Richland | 17 | 1,898 | 4 | 96.9 | 24% |
| Rock | 1,081 | 18,542 | 24 | 668.2 | 2% |
| Rusk | 12 | 967 | 1 | 84.6 | 8% |
| Sauk | 191 | 8,413 | 3 | 300.3 | 2% |
| Sawyer | 15 | 2,040 | 0 | 91.6 | 0% |
| Shawano | 104 | 4,805 | 0 | 253.6 | 0% |
| Sheboygan | 326 | 11,175 | 4 | 283.0 | 1% |
| St. Croix | 297 | 7,889 | 2 | 337.8 | 1% |
| Taylor | 25 | 1,281 | 0 | 122.8 | 0% |
| Trempealeau | 194 | 3,927 | 0 | 659.0 | 0% |
| Vernon | 42 | 3,097 | 0 | 137.6 | 0% |
| Vilas | 17 | 1,511 | 0 | 78.7 | 0% |
| Walworth | 815 | 11,325 | 18 | 791.2 | 2% |
| Washburn | 6 | 1,349 | 0 | 38.2 | 0% |
| Washington | 510 | 10,217 | 19 | 379.1 | 4% |
| Waukesha | 1,878 | 33,394 | 40 | 470.8 | 2% |
| Waupaca | 196 | 5,715 | 13 | 381.0 | 7% |
| Waushara | 48 | 4,105 | 0 | 199.0 | 0% |
| Winnebago | 804 | 20,898 | 14 | 473.1 | 2% |
| Wood | 112 | 6,475 | 1 | 152.9 | 1% |
| Total | 38,727 | 686,299 | 827 | 670.2 | 2% |
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