COVID-19 Hospitalizations Remain High

Milwaukee County continues to see a high number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

Even as hospitalizations have declined slightly in recent weeks, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 remains at a high number. The number of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 has been over 140 every week for approximately the past month.

The latest data shows there are 148 adults hospitalized in Milwaukee County, and 18 hospitalizations among children. Compared to the week prior, hospitalizations are down slightly for adults and up slightly for children.

Dr. Ben Weston, chief health policy advisor for Milwaukee County, said the high number of hospitalizations is “a reminder that many folks in our community are still deeply affected by COVID.” He added that it remains important to take precautions to protect against COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently downgraded Milwaukee County to a “medium” level of disease burden. But it had been at a “high” level of disease since mid-July.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 each week began rising during the spring, and they have yet to return to levels observed before the rise.

This past week, there were 1,060 new cases countrywide, compared to 1,234 the week prior, according to a report produced by epidemiologists, public health officials and faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee.

Darren Rausch, director of the Greenfield Public Health Department, works on the weekly report. He said to colleagues in an email releasing the report, “Consistent with last week, recent data demonstrates a leveling off but we remain at higher levels of transmission.”

There were two deaths this past week due to COVID-19, and two the week prior.

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19 went down slightly to 14.2% this past week compared to 15.9% the week prior. This figure only represents positive PCR tests sent to a laboratory, not rapid antigen tests or home tests.

The reproduction number for the county, which measures how many people, on average, are likely to be infected by a single case of COVID-19, continues to indicate community suppression: 0.904. If the number rises above 1.0, it would indicate an increasing level of community spread.

The rate of vaccination remains stagnant in the county. For the second week in a row, the percentage of county residents that are completely vaccinated is 60.9%. The percentage of residents eligible for a booster that have received one went up slightly from 59.1% to 59.2%.

Read the weekly report here. Read the kids report here. Read the vaccination report here.