Local COVID-19 Curve Flattening Among Adults
Meanwhile, cases continue to rise among children, particularly in the city.
After slowly rising for more than a month, daily new cases of COVID-19 are starting to level off and hold steady in Milwaukee County.
Darren Rausch, director of the Greenfield Health Department, works with a team of epidemiologists and faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee on a weekly report tracking COVID-19 locally. He said the most recent data points to a “plateau” in disease for adults. Overall, the county is “seeing some favorable trends,” Rausch said.
However, disease is still rising among children in the city of Milwaukee, according to the data. In the suburbs, the disease is flattening off. Children 16 and young are still ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The increase has been most notable among children between the ages of 15 and 17. The disease has also increased more rapidly among Black children in the county than other racial or ethnic groups, reflecting disparities in the disease present since the start of the pandemic.
The transmission rate, which measures on average how many people will contract COVID-19 from a single confirmed cases, is below 1.0 countywide for the first time in weeks. This indicates community suppression of the disease.
The positivity rate, which measures what percentage of tests come back positive for COVID-19 is dropping. This past week it was 4.4%. The week before it was 5%.
The number of people getting tested has been rising in recent weeks, which is probably related to the increased transmission, Rausch noted.
There has been a sharp increase in the rate of hospitalization among Black residents in the county recently, according to the data in the weekly report. They now have the highest rate in the county, surpassing that of American Indian and Alaskan native residents, who currently have the highest rate of death.
Hispanic residents still have the highest rate of COVID-19 in the county, and white residents have the most cumulative cases.
Read the weekly report here. Read the children’s report here.
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More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - May 13th, 2022
- DHS Announces the Moving Forward Together Grant Program to Support Health Equity Efforts in COVID-19 Vaccinations - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - May 12th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - May 6th, 2022
- COVID-19 Antibody Study Seeks Volunteers of Color - Matt Martinez - May 5th, 2022
- Are COVID-19 Vaccines Still Free? Yes - Matt Martinez - May 4th, 2022
- Johnson Says COVID Vaccines May Cause AIDS - Henry Redman - May 4th, 2022
- Life-Saving COVID-19 Treatments Available Throughout Wisconsin - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - May 3rd, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Apr 29th, 2022
- State’s COVID-19 Cases Tripled in Last Month - Erik Gunn - Apr 26th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Apr 22nd, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
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