COVID-19 Remains Low in Milwaukee

Milwaukee County continues to see the lowest COVID-19 case counts it has had during the entire pandemic.

Cases have been holding steady at very low levels for nearly the entire month of June, according to the latest data in a weekly report from a team of epidemiologists and faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee that tracks COVID-19 locally. 

Deaths have also been holding steady at the lowest levels during the entire pandemic. During the past week, there were zero deaths due to COVID-19 in the county.

Key metrics indicating disease burden also point to declining disease. The transmission rate, which measures how many people, on average, will catch COVID-19 from a single confirmed case is holding below 1.0. This means the county is suppressing the disease.

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19, continues to hold relatively steady at approximately 1%. This past week, the positivity rate was 1.2%. The week prior it was 0.8%.

The disease burden rate in the city of Milwaukee did increase slightly during the past week. Based upon the Milwaukee Health Department‘s gating criteria, the city is experiencing moderate transmission of disease, whereas last week the data indicated low transmission.

Racial disparities reflected in COVID-19 outcomes continue to be present in Milwaukee County.

Black residents have a disproportionately high number of hospitalizations in the county. Hispanic residents still have the highest rate of disease, and American Indian and Alaskan Natives still have the highest rate of death due to COVID-19.

Read the weekly report here.