COVID-19 Case Burden Remains High
Despite the disease trending down at nationally.
Nationally, new cases of COVID-19 are trending down, but in the Milwaukee area, that is not the case.
That’s what Darren Rausch, director of the Greenfield Health Department said Tuesday during a countywide media briefing.
The latest report shows that the county had 1,388 cases of COVID-19 from Sept. 22 – 28. This is a decrease from the week prior, but is still a high level of disease. The current case burden is similar to what the county saw in December and January when the COVID-19 vaccines were not widely available.
During that same week at the end of September, there were 444 cases among children. The week prior there were 523. The percentage of cases in children has grown significantly during this latest surge in disease, which began in July, and has been holding steady above 30%.
Hospitalizations and deaths have risen, according to the latest report, which showed 295 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county and 16 deaths.
Hospitalizations and deaths are considered lagging indicators of disease because of how long it takes the virus to cause severe illness. Increased hospitalizations and deaths have always followed surges in disease throughout the pandemic.
The positivity rate, which measures what percentage of tests come back positive for COVID-19, was 7.6% countywide last week.
Nearly 62% of county residents eligible for the vaccine were completely vaccinated by the end of September, according to a countywide vaccination report.
Racial and ethnic disparities have shown up in COVID-19 outcomes and vaccination in Milwaukee County.
Black county residents continue to be hospitalized at a rate that is disproportionately high, relative to their share of the population. Hispanics have had the highest rate of disease, and American Indian and Alaskan Natives have had the highest rate of death.
Asian residents have the highest rate of vaccination, followed by American Indian and Alaskan Native Residents, then white residents, then Hispanic residents then Black residents. Vaccination among black residents began to significantly increase in September.
Read the weekly report here. Read the children’s report here. Read the vaccination report here.
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More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- MHD Release: Milwaukee Health Department Launches COVID-19 Wastewater Testing Dashboard - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jan 23rd, 2024
- Milwaukee County Announces New Policies Related to COVID-19 Pandemic - County Executive David Crowley - May 9th, 2023
- DHS Details End of Emergency COVID-19 Response - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Apr 26th, 2023
- Milwaukee Health Department Announces Upcoming Changes to COVID-19 Services - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Mar 17th, 2023
- Fitzgerald Applauds Passage of COVID-19 Origin Act - U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald - Mar 10th, 2023
- DHS Expands Free COVID-19 Testing Program - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Feb 10th, 2023
- MKE County: COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising - Graham Kilmer - Jan 16th, 2023
- Not Enough Getting Bivalent Booster Shots, State Health Officials Warn - Gaby Vinick - Dec 26th, 2022
- Nearly All Wisconsinites Age 6 Months and Older Now Eligible for Updated COVID-19 Vaccine - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Dec 15th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Bi-Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Dec 9th, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
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