Jeramey Jannene
WI Daily

Record COVID-19 Cases As a Result of Reporting Fix

Positive case rate, a measure of if enough testing is being done, continues to climb.

By - Sep 4th, 2020 07:34 pm
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

On paper, Wisconsin set a record for new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The Department of Health Services reported 1,498 cases, besting the previous high of 1,165 set August 8th.

But it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison to past results says DHS.

“The negative and positive case numbers look higher today due to problems with the laboratory test reporting that have now been fixed. Remember to look at 7 day trends to get the full picture of how the state is doing,” said the department in tweeting the Friday afternoon, 24-hour data release.

The seven-day case total jumped from 4,718 to 5,373. When the case high was set it stood at 5,931. But testing was much higher than, 96,931 cases over seven days instead of Friday’s rolling total of 59,769.

Testing and cases have both fallen in recent weeks, with testing falling faster than cases causing a spike in the positive case rate (the percentage of tests indicating a new case). State health officials expressed concern over declines in testing Thursday and encouraged people to get tested to avoid unwittingly spreading the disease.

DHS reported 11,702 processed tests Friday, a number it warned is inflated.

The seven- and 14-day positive case rates, a measure of the percentage of tests confirming a new case of the disease, stand at 9.14 and 8.76 percent. Both are up from a week ago. Officials have looked for them to trend downward and multiple public health benchmarks call for them to be sustained under five percent.

“I think we certainly want to see a percent positive rate below five percent, and the closer to zero the better,” said DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm on Thursday. DHS medical officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard stressed that the metric is important, but individuals should be looking at multiple indicators to gauge the state’s fight against the disease.

A total of 302 Wisconsin residents are currently hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association COVID-19 dashboard. The figure is up nine from yesterday and down seven from a week ago. DHS reports that 52 people were newly hospitalized in the past 24 hours, bringing the outbreak total to 5,998.

Seven deaths were reported by DHS, bringing the statewide total to 1,153, 496 of which have been in Milwaukee County. An average of 6.1 deaths per day have been reported over the past 30 days.

According to DHS data, 2,604.7 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 2,581.3) since the outbreak began. Iron County, the northern-most county that borders Michigan, has 2,224.5 cases per 100,000 residents (up from2,190.3). Brown County has recorded 2,185.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 2,131.9). Racine County has recorded 2,115.2 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 2,081.4).

Kenosha (1,797.5), Walworth (1,720), Marinette (1,531.6), Trempealeau (1,489.6), Waukesha (1,443.4), Waupaca (1,418.9), Dodge (1,383.2) and Washington (1,291.6) are the only other counties with more than 1,200 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 1,372.7 (up from 1,346.7 yesterday). Wisconsin has recorded a per-capita rate of 170 per 100,000 in the past two weeks according to the DHS activity level report released Wednesday.

A total of 79,354 residents have tested positive for the disease.

Charts and Maps

Data from DHS.

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 9/4/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 9/4/2020
Ever hospitalized 5,998 8%
Never hospitalized 46,534 59%
Unknown 26,822 34%
Total 79,354 100%

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 confirmed cases Number of negatives* Number of probable cases Number of deaths** Cases per 100,000 people (counties)
Case fatality percentage***
Adams 9/4/2020 134 3,305 11 3 653.8 2.20%
Ashland 9/4/2020 37 2,100 6 1 233.2 2.70%
Barron 9/4/2020 382 7,578 19 3 832.6 0.80%
Bayfield 9/4/2020 50 2,505 9 1 328.9 2.00%
Brown 9/4/2020 5,689 61,173 165 58 2,185.30 1.00%
Buffalo 9/4/2020 84 2,049 3 2 621.8 2.40%
Burnett 9/4/2020 45 2,228 4 2 291.3 4.40%
Calumet 9/4/2020 554 8,125 28 2 1,076.20 0.40%
Chippewa 9/4/2020 371 12,430 22 0 577.7 0.00%
Clark 9/4/2020 257 4,620 10 8 739.8 3.10%
Columbia 9/4/2020 372 12,045 42 2 651.2 0.50%
Crawford 9/4/2020 113 3,976 5 0 682.6 0.00%
Dane 9/4/2020 5,799 167,619 378 40 1,097.30 0.70%
Dodge 9/4/2020 1,233 19,618 21 5 1,382.20 0.40%
Door 9/4/2020 143 5,732 8 3 509.8 2.10%
Douglas 9/4/2020 270 6,442 5 0 615.4 0.00%
Dunn 9/4/2020 187 6,877 17 0 417.6 0.00%
Eau Claire 9/4/2020 882 18,487 19 6 857.2 0.70%
Florence 9/4/2020 32 740 0 0 723.8 0.00%
Fond du lac 9/4/2020 1,225 19,587 40 10 1,185.00 0.80%
Forest 9/4/2020 94 1,207 2 4 1,023.70 4.30%
Grant 9/4/2020 443 10,999 35 18 845.8 4.10%
Green 9/4/2020 278 6,297 20 2 754.1 0.70%
Green Lake 9/4/2020 101 3,105 26 0 529.1 0.00%
Iowa 9/4/2020 123 4,596 25 0 516.8 0.00%
Iron 9/4/2020 130 1,374 5 1 2,224.50 0.80%
Jackson 9/4/2020 77 5,938 3 1 373 1.30%
Jefferson 9/4/2020 963 16,268 72 7 1,137.30 0.70%
Juneau 9/4/2020 248 7,293 3 1 921.7 0.40%
Kenosha 9/4/2020 3,024 33,634 346 65 1,797.50 2.10%
Kewaunee 9/4/2020 202 3,099 2 2 978.5 1.00%
La Crosse 9/4/2020 1,286 21,251 50 2 1,086.80 0.20%
Lafayette 9/4/2020 186 2,901 6 0 1,101.70 0.00%
Langlade 9/4/2020 84 2,805 1 2 424.7 2.40%
Lincoln 9/4/2020 87 4,031 5 1 305.9 1.10%
Manitowoc 9/4/2020 570 12,679 21 2 710.2 0.40%
Marathon 9/4/2020 804 18,024 68 14 596.7 1.70%
Marinette 9/4/2020 627 8,571 18 6 1,531.60 1.00%
Marquette 9/4/2020 100 2,562 8 1 650.3 1.00%
Menominee 9/4/2020 29 1,981 0 0 661.8 0.00%
Milwaukee 9/4/2020 24,601 227,960 1,480 496 2,604.70 2.00%
Monroe 9/4/2020 298 8,870 11 2 647.9 0.70%
Oconto 9/4/2020 455 7,425 15 2 1,198.60 0.40%
Oneida 9/4/2020 222 6,661 5 0 618.2 0.00%
Outagamie 9/4/2020 2,137 32,710 158 21 1,162.70 1.00%
Ozaukee 9/4/2020 974 16,064 87 18 1,102.30 1.80%
Pepin 9/4/2020 48 1,189 2 0 653.2 0.00%
Pierce 9/4/2020 296 6,099 75 6 710.9 2.00%
Polk 9/4/2020 179 7,510 6 2 407.7 1.10%
Portage 9/4/2020 686 11,175 24 2 970 0.30%
Price 9/4/2020 36 2,232 2 0 260.7 0.00%
Racine 9/4/2020 4,129 56,318 380 91 2,115.20 2.20%
Richland 9/4/2020 56 3,641 11 4 316.2 7.10%
Rock 9/4/2020 1,763 30,340 166 27 1,100.10 1.50%
Rusk 9/4/2020 24 1,723 4 1 165.1 4.20%
Sauk 9/4/2020 673 17,298 58 3 1,073.60 0.40%
Sawyer 9/4/2020 165 4,040 0 0 995.8 0.00%
Shawano 9/4/2020 307 7,814 5 0 744.1 0.00%
Sheboygan 9/4/2020 1,141 19,610 46 9 996.4 0.80%
St. Croix 9/4/2020 665 13,309 57 7 754.2 1.10%
Taylor 9/4/2020 117 2,357 3 3 568.5 2.60%
Trempealeau 9/4/2020 437 5,710 15 2 1,489.80 0.50%
Vernon 9/4/2020 115 4,805 3 0 379.7 0.00%
Vilas 9/4/2020 124 3,565 2 0 572.6 0.00%
Walworth 9/4/2020 1,765 20,475 136 32 1,720.00 1.80%
Washburn 9/4/2020 71 2,447 2 0 447.9 0.00%
Washington 9/4/2020 1,737 21,403 54 29 1,291.60 1.70%
Waukesha 9/4/2020 5,754 70,145 553 77 1,443.40 1.30%
Waupaca 9/4/2020 734 9,319 95 18 1,418.90 2.50%
Waushara 9/4/2020 179 5,934 3 2 736.7 1.10%
Winnebago 9/4/2020 1,645 34,080 99 21 971.4 1.30%
Wood 9/4/2020 506 12,124 25 3 683.5 0.60%

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