COVID-19 Slowing in Milwaukee County, Increasing Statewide
Milwaukee County still has fourth largest per capita spread in state, but it's down 29 percent.
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.
COVID-19 is slowing in Milwaukee County according to the latest activity report from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, but the spread continues to accelerate across the rest of the state.
Milwaukee County has recorded 3,398 cases of the disease in the past two weeks and a per capita rate of 359.8 cases per 100,000 residents down from over 400 last week (29.4 percent drop) according to data released Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the entire state has seen its 14-day per-capita total grow from 200 to 209.2 in the past week.
Could it be the city’s mask mandate, in effect since July 16th? Maybe. Public health officials have been reluctant to attribute increases or decreases to single factors, but city and county officials have universally encouraged people to wear masks.
And while the decrease might seem like a win for Milwaukee, the county still has the fourth-greatest per capita spread (behind the much smaller counties of Iron, Barron and Marinette that recorded a combined total of 381 cases in the past two weeks).
The state’s surge can be partially explained by one county that has come charging up the ranks in recent weeks, Waukesha. The county has the fifth-worst outbreak in the past two weeks with 1,301 cases and a per-capita rate of 326.4 cases per 100,000 residents. But its rate fell 25 percent week over week.
Two cases with slower rates are seeing surges. Milwaukee’s southern neighbor, Racine County, is in sixth at 309.4 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks and is up 22 percent. Ozaukee County has recorded 207.1 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, below the state average but up 53.4 percent.
The activity level report, updated every Wednesday, comes as DHS reported 884 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The results come as 17,023 tests were processed, the third-highest total on record. A total of 99,484 tests have been processed in the past seven days, the highest total on record.
The one-day positive case rate was 5.19 percent, with the seven-day rate falling to 5.92 percent and the 14-day rate increasing to 6.28. Both rates are down from over seven percent on July 24th but still over double their mid-June levels.
A total of 56,940 Wisconsin residents have tested positive for the disease since the outbreak began, with 5,891 in the past week and 12,093 in the past 14 days. DHS reports that 81 percent of individuals with a confirmed case have “recovered,” as defined by a documented abatement of symptoms or a diagnosis over 30 days ago.
The number of people actively hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease stands at 330, an increase of three over yesterday’s report. DHS reports that 43 people were newly hospitalized in the past day, above the 30-day average of 41.
Nine deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 970.
The majority of new cases continue to be individuals under the age of 40, with those individuals having a lower rate of hospitalization and substantially lower risk of death. A total of 5.8 people per day have died over the past 30 days, with 6.89 deaths per day recorded over the past 100 days.
According to DHS data, 2,114.3 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 2,096.3) since the outbreak began. Racine County has 1,710.9 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 1,694.5). Brown County, which is anchored by Green Bay, has 1,578.2 cases per 100,000 residents (up from1,564).
Kenosha (1,521.8), Iron (1,277.3), Walworth (1,253.2), Trempealeau (1,093.8), Waukesha (962.9), Marinette (863.4), Rock (854.3), Dodge (846.5) and Dane (819.1) are the only other counties with more than 800 cases per 100,000 residents.
The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 985.4 (up from 970.1 yesterday).
Charts and Maps
Data from DHS.
Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status
| Hospitalization status | Number of confirmed cases as of 8/5/2020 | Percent of confirmed cases as of 8/5/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever hospitalized | 4,826 | 8% |
| Never hospitalized | 32,813 | 58% |
| Unknown | 19,301 | 34% |
| Total | 56,940 | 100% |
Percent of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization within age group
Data from DHS.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender
Data from DHS.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race
Data from DHS.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity
Data from DHS.
Number of positive cases and deaths by county
| Wisconsin County | Positive as of 8/5/2020 | Negative as of 8/5/2020 | Deaths as of 8/5/2020 | Rate (positive cases per 100,000 people) as of 8/5/2020 | Case fatality percentage (percent of cases who died) as of 8/5/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 79 | 2,498 | 2 | 393.6 | 3% |
| Ashland | 21 | 1,691 | 1 | 133.7 | 5% |
| Barron | 273 | 5,920 | 3 | 603.3 | 1% |
| Bayfield | 21 | 1,832 | 1 | 140.1 | 5% |
| Brown | 4,100 | 47,909 | 52 | 1578.2 | 1% |
| Buffalo | 42 | 1,644 | 2 | 319.0 | 5% |
| Burnett | 21 | 1,531 | 1 | 137.6 | 5% |
| Calumet | 276 | 5,801 | 2 | 554.1 | 1% |
| Chippewa | 213 | 10,063 | 0 | 334.7 | 0% |
| Clark | 179 | 3,601 | 7 | 519.0 | 4% |
| Columbia | 233 | 9,399 | 1 | 409.1 | 0% |
| Crawford | 69 | 3,289 | 0 | 423.6 | 0% |
| Dane | 4,340 | 130,181 | 37 | 819.1 | 1% |
| Dodge | 743 | 15,903 | 5 | 846.5 | 1% |
| Door | 98 | 4,364 | 3 | 357.2 | 3% |
| Douglas | 145 | 4,845 | 0 | 334.1 | 0% |
| Dunn | 112 | 5,524 | 0 | 251.7 | 0% |
| Eau Claire | 531 | 14,107 | 4 | 515.6 | 1% |
| Florence | 6 | 616 | 0 | 138.3 | 0% |
| Fond du Lac | 584 | 14,520 | 6 | 570.8 | 1% |
| Forest | 59 | 955 | 4 | 654.2 | 7% |
| Grant | 332 | 8,759 | 14 | 640.6 | 4% |
| Green | 135 | 4,649 | 1 | 366.2 | 1% |
| Green Lake | 54 | 2,466 | 0 | 287.9 | 0% |
| Iowa | 68 | 3,505 | 0 | 287.9 | 0% |
| Iron | 73 | 1,157 | 1 | 1277.3 | 1% |
| Jackson | 50 | 5,207 | 1 | 243.8 | 2% |
| Jefferson | 581 | 12,827 | 5 | 686.3 | 1% |
| Juneau | 133 | 6,015 | 1 | 503.4 | 1% |
| Kenosha | 2,561 | 27,587 | 58 | 1521.4 | 2% |
| Kewaunee | 115 | 2,483 | 2 | 564.8 | 2% |
| La Crosse | 854 | 17,308 | 1 | 724.6 | 0% |
| Lafayette | 114 | 2,205 | 0 | 681.2 | 0% |
| Langlade | 51 | 2,170 | 1 | 266.1 | 2% |
| Lincoln | 66 | 3,279 | 0 | 237.0 | 0% |
| Manitowoc | 318 | 10,209 | 1 | 400.5 | 0% |
| Marathon | 605 | 12,607 | 7 | 447.3 | 1% |
| Marinette | 350 | 7,017 | 3 | 863.4 | 1% |
| Marquette | 75 | 2,000 | 1 | 493.2 | 1% |
| Menominee | 20 | 1,707 | 0 | 436.8 | 0% |
| Milwaukee | 20,175 | 181,929 | 450 | 2114.3 | 2% |
| Monroe | 234 | 7,147 | 2 | 514.3 | 1% |
| Oconto | 200 | 5,835 | 0 | 532.5 | 0% |
| Oneida | 96 | 4,518 | 0 | 271.6 | 0% |
| Outagamie | 1,158 | 25,175 | 13 | 626.8 | 1% |
| Ozaukee | 605 | 12,440 | 17 | 685.3 | 3% |
| Pepin | 42 | 981 | 0 | 578.4 | 0% |
| Pierce | 183 | 4,639 | 0 | 439.9 | 0% |
| Polk | 126 | 5,869 | 2 | 290.7 | 2% |
| Portage | 367 | 8,612 | 0 | 519.8 | 0% |
| Price | 25 | 1,826 | 0 | 185.3 | 0% |
| Racine | 3,343 | 43,801 | 78 | 1710.9 | 2% |
| Richland | 34 | 2,800 | 4 | 193.9 | 12% |
| Rock | 1,382 | 24,227 | 26 | 854.3 | 2% |
| Rusk | 16 | 1,283 | 1 | 112.8 | 6% |
| Sauk | 411 | 12,300 | 3 | 646.3 | 1% |
| Sawyer | 50 | 2,661 | 0 | 305.4 | 0% |
| Shawano | 168 | 6,198 | 0 | 409.7 | 0% |
| Sheboygan | 682 | 15,689 | 8 | 592.0 | 1% |
| St. Croix | 470 | 10,432 | 2 | 534.6 | 0% |
| Taylor | 59 | 1,770 | 0 | 289.8 | 0% |
| Trempealeau | 322 | 4,847 | 2 | 1093.8 | 1% |
| Vernon | 59 | 3,906 | 0 | 193.3 | 0% |
| Vilas | 40 | 2,278 | 0 | 185.2 | 0% |
| Walworth | 1,291 | 15,895 | 21 | 1253.2 | 2% |
| Washburn | 39 | 1,919 | 0 | 248.6 | 0% |
| Washington | 945 | 16,098 | 22 | 702.4 | 2% |
| Waukesha | 3,841 | 52,005 | 57 | 962.9 | 1% |
| Waupaca | 408 | 7,801 | 15 | 793.1 | 4% |
| Waushara | 112 | 5,228 | 0 | 464.4 | 0% |
| Winnebago | 1,094 | 26,370 | 18 | 643.8 | 2% |
| Wood | 263 | 9,155 | 1 | 358.9 | 0% |
| Total | 56,940 | 944,984 | 970 | 985.4 | 2% |
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