Jeramey Jannene
WI Daily

Record Number of People Hospitalized with COVID-19

Cases hit an all-time high in early September, now hospitalizations are catching up.

By - Sep 22nd, 2020 07:49 pm
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

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

The number of people actively hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19 has climbed steadily in September. As of Tuesday afternoon, it’s at an all-time high.

A total of 474 Wisconsin residents are actively hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association COVID-19 dashboard. The figure is up 41 from Monday and 131 from a week ago. The Department of Health Services reports that 73 people were newly hospitalized in the past 24 hours, bringing the outbreak total to 6,765.

The hospitalizations, a lagging indicator of the disease’s spread, come as the state is reporting record numbers of new cases.

The Department of Health Services reported that 1,672 people tested positive in the past 24 hours. The figure would have been an all-time high before multiple record-setting totals were recorded in the past week.

The new cases come from 12,537 processed tests. The number of tests processed in the past seven days has climbed to 76,833, the highest total since August 13th. A high of 99,920 was recorded for the week ending August 6th.

And while testing isn’t at an all-time high, cases are. The seven-day case total hit 12,866. The high before September brought a surge of cases with it was 6,512 for the week of July 26th.

The seven- and 14-day positive case rates now stand at 16.75 and 15.76 percent, the former of which is an all-time high and the latter just fell for the first time in 21 days. The figure is a measure of the percentage of tests that indicate a new case of the disease. The 14-day figure hit a low of 2.69 percent on June 19th.

Officials have looked for the positive case rate to trend downward to indicate a slowing spread of disease and sufficient testing. Multiple public health benchmarks call for the positive case figure to be sustained under five percent. During an appearance before the Milwaukee Press Club, last Wednesday Governor Tony Evers called the five percent figure a “golden target” and encouraged more people to get tested.

Seven deaths were reported by DHS, bringing the statewide total to 1,251. There have been 525 deaths recorded in Milwaukee County. An average of 5.67 deaths per day have been reported across the state over the past 30 days.

Brown County has recorded 2,958.9 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 2,905.2). According to DHS data, 2,881.1 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 2,855.9) since the outbreak began.

Forest (2,439.6), Walworth (2,420.7), Iron (2,344.3), Racine (2,335.5), La Crosse (2,280), Outgamie (2,012) and Kewaunee (2,005.4) are the only other counties with more than 2,000 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 1,801.9 (up from 1,773). Wisconsin has recorded a per-capita rate of 269.6 per 100,000 in the past two weeks according to the DHS activity level report released Wednesday.

A total of 104,170 residents have tested positive for the disease.

Charts and Maps

Data from DHS.

Data from DHS.

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 9/22/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 9/22/2020
Ever hospitalized 6,765 6%
Never hospitalized 59,520 57%
Unknown 37,885 36%
Total 104,170 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization within age group

Data from DHS.

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Data from DHS.

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Data from DHS.

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Data from DHS.

Data from DHS.

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Number of confirmed cases Number of negatives* Number of probable cases Number of deaths** Cases per 100,000 people (counties)
Case fatality percentage***
Adams 209 3,742 13 4 1019.8 1.90%
Ashland 70 2,429 7 2 441.3 2.90%
Barron 422 8,495 21 4 919.8 0.90%
Bayfield 86 2,827 8 1 565.6 1.20%
Brown 7703 66,078 175 60 2958.9 0.80%
Buffalo 124 2,386 4 2 917.9 1.60%
Burnett 140 2,542 4 3 906.3 2.10%
Calumet 921 9,389 35 2 1789.2 0.20%
Chippewa 482 13,929 25 0 750.5 0.00%
Clark 331 5,245 29 8 952.8 2.40%
Columbia 531 14,249 46 2 929.5 0.40%
Crawford 141 4,271 4 0 851.7 0.00%
Dane 8947 190,377 459 41 1692.9 0.50%
Dodge 1653 21,868 23 10 1853 0.60%
Door 245 6,376 17 3 873.4 1.20%
Douglas 393 7,149 8 0 895.7 0.00%
Dunn 402 8,001 24 0 897.8 0.00%
Eau Claire 1650 21,086 21 6 1603.6 0.40%
Florence 69 819 0 1 1560.7 1.40%
Fond du Lac 1799 22,229 48 13 1740.3 0.70%
Forest 224 1,511 2 4 2439.6 1.80%
Grant 846 12,997 41 19 1615.3 2.20%
Green 449 7,601 20 2 1218 0.40%
Green Lake 212 3,587 37 0 1110.6 0.00%
Iowa 155 5,206 24 0 651.3 0.00%
Iron 137 1,463 7 1 2344.3 0.70%
Jackson 107 6,250 4 1 518.3 0.90%
Jefferson 1243 18,322 73 7 1468 0.60%
Juneau 331 8,099 4 2 1230.1 0.60%
Kenosha 3308 36,622 387 65 1966.3 2.00%
Kewaunee 414 3,587 6 2 2005.4 0.50%
La Crosse 2698 24,155 148 2 2280 0.10%
Lafayette 225 3,296 6 0 1332.7 0.00%
Langlade 136 3,205 1 2 687.7 1.50%
Lincoln 159 4,603 10 1 559 0.60%
Manitowoc 905 13,872 58 2 1127.7 0.20%
Marathon 1112 19,900 98 14 825.3 1.30%
Marinette 768 9,385 20 7 1876 0.90%
Marquette 202 2,991 8 1 1313.6 0.50%
Menominee 55 2,282 0 0 1255.1 0.00%
Milwaukee 27211 246,062 1,632 525 2881.1 1.90%
Monroe 408 9,701 13 2 887 0.50%
Oconto 703 8,318 41 4 1851.9 0.60%
Oneida 356 7,785 6 2 991.3 0.60%
Outagamie 3698 38,721 225 28 2012 0.80%
Ozaukee 1240 17,380 94 19 1403.3 1.50%
Pepin 56 1,372 3 0 762 0.00%
Pierce 408 7,270 220 6 979.9 1.50%
Polk 224 8,531 6 2 510.3 0.90%
Portage 1244 12,308 37 4 1759.1 0.30%
Price 55 2,456 2 0 398.3 0.00%
Racine 4559 62,259 412 94 2335.5 2.10%
Richland 93 4,290 11 4 525.1 4.30%
Rock 2287 34,462 190 32 1427 1.40%
Rusk 52 2,206 6 1 357.8 1.90%
Sauk 822 18,553 57 3 1311.3 0.40%
Sawyer 196 4,390 0 1 1182.9 0.50%
Shawano 606 8,945 5 1 1468.7 0.20%
Sheboygan 1492 21,836 52 15 1302.9 1.00%
St. Croix 840 15,083 61 8 952.7 1.00%
Taylor 156 2,681 3 3 758 1.90%
Trempealeau 569 6,383 17 2 1939.9 0.40%
Vernon 183 5,517 5 0 604.2 0.00%
Vilas 174 4,244 4 1 803.5 0.60%
Walworth 2484 22,739 146 34 2420.7 1.40%
Washburn 94 2,748 3 1 592.9 1.10%
Washington 2324 23,421 71 32 1728.1 1.40%
Waukesha 6763 77,677 623 85 1696.5 1.30%
Waupaca 934 10,141 105 19 1805.5 2.00%
Waushara 284 6,522 6 2 1168.8 0.70%
Winnebago 2944 38,225 135 23 1738.5 0.80%
Wood 707 13,845 41 4 955.1 0.60%

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