Jeramey Jannene
WI Daily

New Single Day COVID-19 High, Cases Spreading To Older Age Groups

State reports double-digit death total for first time in 22 days as hospitalizations fall.

By - Jul 18th, 2020 02:50 pm
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

Wisconsin set a new single-day COVID-19 case record Saturday even as test processing fell to a five-day low.

The Department of Health Services reported 978 new cases of the disease in the past 24 hours from 12,424 processed tests.

The one-day positive case rate was 7.87 percent. The seven-day average increased to 7.00 percent while the 14-day average declined for the first time in 28 days to 6.75 percent. The 14-day average hit a pandemic low of 2.69 percent on June 19th before beginning a nearly month upward trend as the state reported a surge in cases.

DHS has reported over 750 cases in nine of the past 10 days. Prior to the stretch, the state had never recorded over 750 cases in a single day.

For the first time in 22 days DHS reported a double-digit death total from the disease. Ten deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 843. An average of 4.13 deaths per day have been recorded over the past 30 days. That average has trended downward in recent weeks, with the state averaging 7.59 deaths per day since April 1st.

Active hospitalizations fell from a 30-day high of 331 to 315. A total of 51 people were newly admitted to the hospital with a confirmed case of the disease in the past 24 hours, above the 30-day average of 31. A total of 4,082 Wisconsin residents have been hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease.

The majority of cases (63.9 percent) in the past 30 days have been in individuals under the age of 40. But individuals under the age of 40 represent only 25.6 percent of all hospitalizations and 1.8 percent of all deaths in the past 30 days.

“The danger is that these transmission networks are going to continue until they get to older folks,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases in a press briefing two weeks ago.

State data indicates that could be happening. While 63.9 percent of cases in the past 30 days have been in individuals under the age of 40, only 52.5 percent in the past week were.

A total of 41,485 people have tested positive for the disease since the outbreak began with 17,609 in the past 30 days and 5,806 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.

The 14-day average of 11,031 processed tests per day is the second-highest figure recorded over the length of the pandemic (11,062, June 16th).

According to DHS data, 1,638.2 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 1,610) since the outbreak began. Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 1,332.6 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,311.5). Racine County has 1,312.2 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,289.2).

Kenosha (1,148.3), Walworth (870.8), Trempealeau (771.1), Rock (706.6), Dane (648.5), Dodge (634.6), La Crosse (560), Forest (554.4), Waukesha (539.5) and Lafayette (513.9) are the only other counties with more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 717.9 (up from 701 yesterday).

For more on how the gap between Milwaukee and the rest of the state continues to grow, see our coverage from Thursday.

There are currently 977 ventilators and 302 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 386 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 7/18/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 7/18/2020
Ever hospitalized 4,082 10%
Never hospitalized 23,718 57%
Unknown 13,685 33%
Total 41,485 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization within 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 7/18/2020 Negative as of 7/18/2020 Deaths as of 7/18/2020 Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 7/18/2020 Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 7/18/2020
Adams 51 1,977 2 254.1 4%
Ashland 10 1,244 0 63.6 0%
Barron 69 4,338 1 152.5 1%
Bayfield 13 1,497 1 86.7 8%
Brown 3,462 37,306 46 1332.6 1%
Buffalo 20 1,291 2 151.9 10%
Burnett 5 1,174 1 32.8 20%
Calumet 184 4,458 2 369.4 1%
Chippewa 151 8,440 0 237.3 0%
Clark 132 2,977 7 382.7 5%
Columbia 150 7,637 1 263.4 1%
Crawford 47 2,866 0 288.6 0%
Dane 3,436 93,704 33 648.5 1%
Dodge 557 13,296 5 634.6 1%
Door 73 3,420 3 266.0 4%
Douglas 74 3,532 0 170.5 0%
Dunn 63 4,372 0 141.6 0%
Eau Claire 388 11,301 2 376.7 1%
Florence 6 487 0 138.3 0%
Fond du Lac 427 12,029 6 417.3 1%
Forest 50 720 3 554.4 6%
Grant 243 7,210 14 468.9 6%
Green 114 3,776 1 309.2 1%
Green Lake 46 2,029 0 245.2 0%
Iowa 50 3,266 0 211.7 0%
Iron 25 573 1 437.4 4%
Jackson 36 4,395 1 175.6 3%
Jefferson 415 9,262 4 490.2 1%
Juneau 73 4,566 1 276.3 1%
Kenosha 1,933 21,229 47 1148.3 2%
Kewaunee 88 1,942 1 432.2 1%
La Crosse 660 14,488 1 560.0 0%
Lafayette 86 1,707 0 513.9 0%
Langlade 11 1,673 1 57.4 9%
Lincoln 33 2,538 0 118.5 0%
Manitowoc 189 8,068 1 238.0 1%
Marathon 363 9,466 2 268.4 1%
Marinette 149 5,424 3 367.6 2%
Marquette 56 1,496 1 368.3 2%
Menominee 10 1,431 0 218.4 0%
Milwaukee 15,632 139,699 411 1638.2 3%
Monroe 159 5,882 1 349.4 1%
Oconto 116 4,547 0 308.9 0%
Oneida 47 3,460 0 133.0 0%
Outagamie 780 19,601 10 422.2 1%
Ozaukee 364 8,186 16 412.3 4%
Pepin 22 766 0 302.9 0%
Pierce 125 3,510 0 300.5 0%
Polk 79 4,569 2 182.2 3%
Portage 279 7,097 0 395.2 0%
Price 11 1,282 0 81.5 0%
Racine 2,564 33,928 66 1312.2 3%
Richland 18 2,044 4 102.6 22%
Rock 1,143 19,515 24 706.6 2%
Rusk 13 1,016 1 91.7 8%
Sauk 205 9,100 3 322.3 1%
Sawyer 19 2,095 0 116.1 0%
Shawano 108 5,017 0 263.4 0%
Sheboygan 374 11,759 4 324.6 1%
St. Croix 325 8,380 2 369.7 1%
Taylor 30 1,359 0 147.4 0%
Trempealeau 227 4,134 0 771.1 0%
Vernon 45 3,167 0 147.5 0%
Vilas 20 1,619 0 92.6 0%
Walworth 897 12,030 18 870.8 2%
Washburn 7 1,420 0 44.6 0%
Washington 552 10,757 19 410.3 3%
Waukesha 2,152 36,117 40 539.5 2%
Waupaca 212 5,902 13 412.1 6%
Waushara 51 4,361 0 211.5 0%
Winnebago 833 21,801 14 490.2 2%
Wood 128 6,918 1 174.7 1%
Total 41,485 723,643 843 717.9 2%

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