COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise

The latest data on COVID-19 supports that a trend noticed in recent weeks is in fact occurring. That is the disease is rising again in Milwaukee County.

New cases are rising, and other key indicators appear to support a growing disease burden in the county.

This past week, there were 1,543 cases of COVID-19. The week prior there were 1,258 cases, which was also an increase from the week before.

The rising cases are also showing up among children. There were 429 cases this week, compared to 330 the week prior.

Hospitalizations and deaths are both up this week. Though, these are considered lagging indicators of disease because of how long it generally takes for COVID-19 to make someone severely ill. This past week there were 14 deaths and 263 people were in the hospital due to COVID-19.

The transmission rate is a metric that shows, on average, how many people will contract COVID-19 from a single confirmed case of the disease. The latest data on transmission is from the week of Nov. 3-9. It shows the county’s transmission rate was 1.148. This is a slight drop from the week before, but it indicates the disease was increasing in the county, as opposed to being suppressed.

The county’s positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19, was 8.5% this past week. It was 7.5% the week prior.

Children between the ages of five and 11 recently became eligible for vaccination. The latest countywide vaccination report includes data on vaccination among this age group. It shows that approximately 52% of all county residents that are vaccinated for COVID-19, those five years and older, are completely vaccinated.

Racial disparities persist in health outcomes due to COVID-19.

The county’s Black residents have suffered from a disproportionate number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 relative to their share of the population. American Indian and Alaska Native residents have had the highest rate of death, and Hispanic residents have had the highest rate of disease.

Read the weekly report here. Read the children’s report here. Read the vaccine report here.