Milwaukee Likely Past Omicron Peak
Cases down significantly, but fallout of rising hospitalizations and deaths from the surge continues.
The latest data on COVID-19 in Milwaukee shows the recent surge in cases caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant has peaked.
The latest weekly report produced by epidemiologists and faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee and public health officials shows there were approximately 45% fewer new cases this past week than the week before.
“Data indicate that we are turning the corner on our COVID-19 disease burden from Omicron,” said Dr. Ben Weston, chief health policy advisor for the county at a media briefing Tuesday.
Cases and another key indicator are pointing to a sustained downtrend, Weston said. “And this does correlate with the timeline that we’ve seen in other parts of the country, and countries, with respect to that rapid rise followed by the fairly quick decline in Omicron cases.”
But deaths and hospitalizations are rising. “As we’ve seen throughout the pandemic cases fall before hospitalizations, and hospitalizations fall before deaths,” Weston said.
There were 859 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county this past week. The week prior there were 827 people hospitalized. There were 76 children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county this past week.
The transmission rate reported this past week suggests community suppression of the disease. This number represents how many people, on average, are likely to contract COVID-19 from a single confirmed case. The countywide transmission rate this past week was 0.74.
The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19, was down to 17.8% this past week compared to 24.9% the week before.
Vaccinations countywide continue to crawl upward, with 62.3% of vaccine-eligible county residents (5 years old and older) completely vaccinated.
Read the weekly report here. Read the children’s report here. Read the vaccination report here.
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- Milwaukee County Announces New Policies Related to COVID-19 Pandemic - County Executive David Crowley - May 9th, 2023
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- Milwaukee Health Department Announces Upcoming Changes to COVID-19 Services - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Mar 17th, 2023
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- 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
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The number of people wearing N95 masks in the Milwaukee area has dramatically increased over the past few months. This is likely the reason why COVID cases have declined recently.
Always remember… New COVID cases in Milwaukee dropped close to zero in May/June of 2021 when everyone was required to wear a mask.
@NieWiederKrieg – Putting aside any data on the number of cases or reasons for any decline, the mask mandate expired on June 1st, 2021
the CDC data shows elevated transmission levels for nearly entire period of the July 2020 – May 2021 mask mandate, and dropped +/- 7 days of the end of mandate?
also don’t remember any follow up studies from our health dept reporting on the success of the policy. If there’s something out there, please share. thx.
also curious about data for n95, thx.
Has anyone else been following the 50,000 “anti vax-mandate” Canadian truck drivers that are heading to Ottowa? Millions upon millions of men, women, and children are showing up in below zero weather with fireworks and high school bands to support the truckers as they roll through their towns. The majority of the truckers are vaccinated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims that 90% of Canadians are vaxed and that proves they support him. What Trudeau didn’t mention was that many Canadians are getting vaxed because he created laws that make it difficult, and in many cases impossible to be employed if they don’t get vaxed.
Quebec Premier François Legault brags that 99% of his province’s government employees are vaxed. Soon it will be 100% because he’s firing all the unvaxed employees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVuWFCuWYrY