Rising New COVID-19 Variants A Concern

The picture for COVID-19 could be changing. As important indicators of disease continue to indicate a trend in COVID-19 for Milwaukee County, it appears the period of relatively stable disease levels, albeit elevated, may be over for now.

“This week, we continue to see a clear change in the variant landscape with several variants (BQ.1, BF.7, and BQ.1.1) fighting for dominance in the United States and other parts of the world,” Dr. Ben Weston, chief health policy advisor for Milwaukee County, told Urban Milwaukee. “We saw stability in the pandemic as of late largely due to the concomitant stability of the BA.5 variant. As that is being displaced, the situation becomes less predictable. That is why it is critical to keep our immunity high through the vaccine and booster.”

Three weeks ago, the number of new cases of COVID-19 per week went above 600, and it has held there ever since, based on countywide data which is compiled in a weekly report by local epidemiologists, public health officials and faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee.

The report shows there were 603 new cases of COVID-19 between Oct. 12-18. This is down slightly from the previous week that saw 636 cases.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have increased, from 109 last week to 121 this week. There were 10 children hospitalized for the second week in a row.

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19 went up again this past week from 9.2% to 10.6%. As with last week, the positivity rate may be affected by an increased number of people seeking testing in recent weeks. Also, the figure only captures positive PCR tests. It does not include at home or rapid antigen tests.

As new variants jockey for dominance, public health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated and boosted. Each new surge in disease over the course of the pandemic has been driven by the rise of a new dominant variant of the disease. Vaccination and population level immunity are the best tools available to combat these surges before they occur. Getting vaccinated now, during a period of relative calm for the disease, is especially important given the likelihood that federal funding will soon end for free vaccination by the end of the year — making it more difficult to access a vaccine.

In Milwaukee County, only 61.4% of the population has completed a vaccination series, despite the vaccines being free and widely available for more than a year. Only 35.2% of the overall county population has received a booster; and 58.4% of county residents eligible for a booster (population is aged 5 years and older with complete primary vaccination prior to May 20, 2022) have received one.

The weekly report, children’s report and countywide vaccination report are available on Urban Milwaukee.