One Out of 50 Wisconsin Residents Has Tested Positive for COVID-19
Active hospitalizations hit another record high.
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
Wisconsin’s surge in COVID-19 cases has pushed the state past another benchmark.
According to the Department of Health Services, 2,075 out of every 100,000 residents have tested positive for the disease. That per-capita figure can be better represented with a different denominator.
One out of every 50 residents has tested positive for COVID-19.
The figure varies tremendously by county, with Brown County leading the way at 3,542.8 cases per 100,000 residents. Rusk County has the lowest per capita rate at 440.3 cases per 100,000 residents. A complete list is available at the end of the article.
Wisconsin crossed the one in 100 threshold on August 7th, approximately five months after the pandemic took hold in the state. Doubling from that point took less than two months.
Of the 119,955 Wisconsin residents that have tested positive, 28,651 have come in the last two weeks (23.8 percent).
The Wisconsin Hospital Association reported a record 646 active COVID-19-positive hospitalizations on Tuesday afternoon. The figure is up six from Monday and 172 from a week ago.
DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said Tuesday during a media briefing that the state is closer to needing its field hospitals, constructed in April for emergency care, than it ever has been.
DHS reports that 67 people were newly hospitalized in the past 24 hours, bringing the outbreak total to 7,209.
DHS reported 2,367 newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
The new cases come from 10,764 processed tests. But the number of tests processed in the past seven days fell to 81,067, the lowest total in five days. A high of 99,920 was recorded for the week ending August 6th.
While testing isn’t at a record high, cases are. The seven-day case total climbed to 15,785. 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 19.47 and 18.15 percent, both of which are all-time highs. 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.
DHS reported 17 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total at 1,300. It was the highest one day total since May 30th. There have been 529 deaths recorded in Milwaukee County. An average of 5.93 deaths per day have been reported across the state over the past 30 days.
Brown County has recorded 3,542.8 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 3,451.4). According to DHS data, 3,147.5 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 3,037.9 ) since the outbreak began.
Forest (3,063.5), Kewaunee (2,833.8), La Crosse (2,615.5), Outagamie (2,589.8), Walworth (2,551.3), Racine (2,534.3), Iron (2,447.3), Oconto (2,412.9.7) and Marinette (2,401.1) are the only other counties with more than 2,400 cases per 100,000 residents.
The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 2,075 (up from 2,004.2). Wisconsin has recorded a per-capita rate of 390.9 per 100,000 in the past two weeks according to the DHS activity level report released Wednesday.
A total of 119,955 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 9/29/2020 | Percent of confirmed cases as of 9/29/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever hospitalized | 7,209 | 6% |
| Never hospitalized | 67,882 | 57% |
| Unknown | 44,864 | 37% |
| Total | 119,955 | 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
| Number of confirmed cases | Number of negatives* | Number of probable cases | Number of deaths** | Cases per 100,000 people (counties) | Case fatality percentage*** | ||
| Adams | 9/29/2020 | 255 | 4,068 | 15 | 4 | 1,244.20 | 1.60% |
| Ashland | 9/29/2020 | 122 | 2,884 | 10 | 2 | 769.1 | 1.60% |
| Barron | 9/29/2020 | 482 | 8,995 | 22 | 5 | 1,050.60 | 1.00% |
| Bayfield | 9/29/2020 | 113 | 3,089 | 10 | 1 | 743.2 | 0.90% |
| Brown | 9/29/2020 | 9,223 | 69,076 | 186 | 63 | 3,542.80 | 0.70% |
| Buffalo | 9/29/2020 | 141 | 2,609 | 4 | 2 | 1,043.70 | 1.40% |
| Burnett | 9/29/2020 | 199 | 2,815 | 8 | 3 | 1,288.30 | 1.50% |
| Calumet | 9/29/2020 | 1,236 | 10,197 | 42 | 4 | 2,401.10 | 0.30% |
| Chippewa | 9/29/2020 | 567 | 14,825 | 27 | 0 | 882.9 | 0.00% |
| Clark | 9/29/2020 | 407 | 5,562 | 36 | 8 | 1,171.50 | 2.00% |
| Columbia | 9/29/2020 | 657 | 15,382 | 48 | 3 | 1,150.00 | 0.50% |
| Crawford | 9/29/2020 | 173 | 4,423 | 4 | 0 | 1,045.00 | 0.00% |
| Dane | 9/29/2020 | 9,857 | 197,220 | 474 | 42 | 1,865.10 | 0.40% |
| Dodge | 9/29/2020 | 1,931 | 23,085 | 29 | 17 | 2,164.70 | 0.90% |
| Door | 9/29/2020 | 354 | 6,499 | 29 | 3 | 1,262.00 | 0.80% |
| Douglas | 9/29/2020 | 493 | 7,932 | 4 | 0 | 1,123.70 | 0.00% |
| Dunn | 9/29/2020 | 593 | 8,357 | 25 | 0 | 1,324.30 | 0.00% |
| Eau Claire | 9/29/2020 | 1,969 | 22,457 | 22 | 6 | 1,913.60 | 0.30% |
| Florence | 9/29/2020 | 96 | 884 | 0 | 2 | 2,171.50 | 2.10% |
| Fond du Lac | 9/29/2020 | 2,171 | 23,584 | 55 | 14 | 2,100.20 | 0.60% |
| Forest | 9/29/2020 | 289 | 1,759 | 3 | 6 | 3,147.50 | 2.10% |
| Grant | 9/29/2020 | 1,030 | 13,470 | 44 | 19 | 1,966.60 | 1.80% |
| Green | 9/29/2020 | 536 | 8,297 | 22 | 3 | 1,454.00 | 0.60% |
| Green Lake | 9/29/2020 | 296 | 3,911 | 53 | 0 | 1,550.70 | 0.00% |
| Iowa | 9/29/2020 | 187 | 5,556 | 24 | 0 | 785.7 | 0.00% |
| Iron | 9/29/2020 | 143 | 1,501 | 7 | 1 | 2,447.00 | 0.70% |
| Jackson | 9/29/2020 | 152 | 6,464 | 4 | 1 | 736.3 | 0.70% |
| Jefferson | 9/29/2020 | 1,486 | 19,447 | 74 | 8 | 1,754.90 | 0.50% |
| Juneau | 9/29/2020 | 388 | 8,902 | 4 | 2 | 1,442.00 | 0.50% |
| Kenosha | 9/29/2020 | 3,549 | 37,909 | 403 | 67 | 2,109.60 | 1.90% |
| Kewaunee | 9/29/2020 | 585 | 3,965 | 6 | 2 | 2,833.80 | 0.30% |
| La Crosse | 9/29/2020 | 3,095 | 25,426 | 149 | 2 | 2,615.50 | 0.10% |
| Lafayette | 9/29/2020 | 299 | 3,534 | 6 | 0 | 1,771.00 | 0.00% |
| Langlade | 9/29/2020 | 198 | 3,420 | 1 | 2 | 1,001.20 | 1.00% |
| Lincoln | 9/29/2020 | 234 | 4,928 | 11 | 1 | 822.7 | 0.40% |
| Manitowoc | 9/29/2020 | 1,170 | 14,340 | 92 | 3 | 1,457.90 | 0.30% |
| Marathon | 9/29/2020 | 1,458 | 20,857 | 105 | 14 | 1,082.10 | 1.00% |
| Marinette | 9/29/2020 | 976 | 10,001 | 19 | 8 | 2,384.10 | 0.80% |
| Marquette | 9/29/2020 | 281 | 3,314 | 12 | 1 | 1,827.30 | 0.40% |
| Menominee | 9/29/2020 | 81 | 2,536 | 0 | 0 | 1,848.50 | 0.00% |
| Milwaukee | 9/29/2020 | 28,934 | 252,552 | 1,756 | 529 | 3,063.50 | 1.80% |
| Monroe | 9/29/2020 | 549 | 10,354 | 14 | 3 | 1,193.50 | 0.50% |
| Oconto | 9/29/2020 | 916 | 8,874 | 52 | 4 | 2,412.90 | 0.40% |
| Oneida | 9/29/2020 | 461 | 8,495 | 6 | 2 | 1,283.70 | 0.40% |
| Outagamie | 9/29/2020 | 4,760 | 41,458 | 237 | 29 | 2,589.80 | 0.60% |
| Ozaukee | 9/29/2020 | 1,385 | 18,423 | 95 | 19 | 1,567.50 | 1.40% |
| Pepin | 9/29/2020 | 67 | 1,471 | 2 | 0 | 911.7 | 0.00% |
| Pierce | 9/29/2020 | 448 | 7,903 | 245 | 7 | 1,076.00 | 1.60% |
| Polk | 9/29/2020 | 250 | 9,005 | 10 | 2 | 569.5 | 0.80% |
| Portage | 9/29/2020 | 1,481 | 13,037 | 38 | 6 | 2,094.20 | 0.40% |
| Price | 9/29/2020 | 118 | 2,708 | 3 | 0 | 854.6 | 0.00% |
| Racine | 9/29/2020 | 4,947 | 65,530 | 475 | 95 | 2,534.30 | 1.90% |
| Richland | 9/29/2020 | 141 | 4,960 | 12 | 4 | 796.1 | 2.80% |
| Rock | 9/29/2020 | 2,601 | 36,248 | 195 | 32 | 1,622.90 | 1.20% |
| Rusk | 9/29/2020 | 64 | 2,374 | 7 | 1 | 440.3 | 1.60% |
| Sauk | 9/29/2020 | 928 | 18,882 | 59 | 3 | 1,480.40 | 0.30% |
| Sawyer | 9/29/2020 | 219 | 4,552 | 0 | 1 | 1,321.70 | 0.50% |
| Shawano | 9/29/2020 | 968 | 9,570 | 6 | 1 | 2,346.10 | 0.10% |
| Sheboygan | 9/29/2020 | 1,710 | 23,099 | 67 | 16 | 1,493.30 | 0.90% |
| St. Croix | 9/29/2020 | 947 | 16,258 | 64 | 8 | 1,074.10 | 0.80% |
| Taylor | 9/29/2020 | 194 | 2,851 | 3 | 4 | 942.7 | 2.10% |
| Trempealeau | 9/29/2020 | 656 | 6,773 | 19 | 2 | 2,236.50 | 0.30% |
| Vernon | 9/29/2020 | 238 | 6,177 | 5 | 1 | 785.8 | 0.40% |
| Vilas | 9/29/2020 | 227 | 4,512 | 8 | 1 | 1,048.20 | 0.40% |
| Walworth | 9/29/2020 | 2,618 | 23,860 | 154 | 35 | 2,551.30 | 1.30% |
| Washburn | 9/29/2020 | 113 | 2,937 | 6 | 1 | 712.8 | 0.90% |
| Washington | 9/29/2020 | 2,662 | 24,741 | 74 | 32 | 1,979.40 | 1.20% |
| Waukesha | 9/29/2020 | 7,529 | 80,981 | 683 | 89 | 1,888.70 | 1.20% |
| Waupaca | 9/29/2020 | 1,092 | 10,565 | 118 | 20 | 2,110.90 | 1.80% |
| Waushara | 9/29/2020 | 372 | 6,803 | 6 | 2 | 1,531.00 | 0.50% |
| Winnebago | 9/29/2020 | 4,057 | 39,490 | 151 | 27 | 2,395.70 | 0.70% |
| Wood | 9/29/2020 | 831 | 14,851 | 50 | 5 | 1,122.60 | 0.60% |
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