COVID-19 in Wisconsin: Cases back up, deaths down

 The state reported 46 more deaths, including 21 in the past 30 days

The more contagious strain of the virus could soon be the dominant variant in Wisconsin.(WMTV)

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Coronavirus cases in Wisconsin edged back up Friday as the Department of Health Services issued its third and final COVID-19 report for the week. The DHS reported Thursday it was working through a backlog of records and didn’t release reports Monday or Tuesday after a database upgrade and maintenance to the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System last weekend.

CASES

Friday’s report shows 5,664 new COVID-19 virus cases diagnosed in the latest test results. The 7-day average is up to 3,183 cases per day, up from 3,024 yesterday. Dodge County topped 17,000 cases. Menominee County passed 1,000 cases.

The positivity rate is back over 11%, after dropping below that mark yesterday for the first time in a week. The DHS calculates 11.6% of all tests in the last 7 days was positive for COVID-19.

DEATHS

Nine counties in WBAY’s viewing area had almost one-third of the COVID-19 deaths reported to the state Friday: Brown (1), Calumet (2), Door (1), Fond du Lac (3), Forest (1), Marinette (1), Oconto (1), Outagamie (1), Sheboygan (1) and Winnebago (3). County case and death totals are updated later in this article.

The statewide death toll is up 46 from a day ago, but the DHS says fewer than half of those were in the past 30 days. The 21 recent deaths helped nudged the 7-day average down from 23 to 21 per day. A total 9,344 people have died during the pandemic, which is more than 1 out of 100 cases (1.03%).

HOSPITALIZATIONS

Another 212 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the past 24-hour period. A total 48,033 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment since the pandemic began, or 1 in 20 cases.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) releases daily numbers taking discharges and deaths into account. Friday showed a net increase of 27 patients in hospitals, up to 1,634, the most COVID-19 patients at one time in over a year, since December 4, 2020. There are 436 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, an increase of 8, the most since November 25, 2020.

The Northeast health care region hospitals have 158 of the patients, up 4 from Thursday, with 33 in ICU, down 2. Combined, the 10 hospitals reported 2 ICU beds immediately available out of 207, no intermediate care beds, and 30 of 462 medical surgical beds.

Fox Valley hospitals have 141 patients, the same as yesterday, with 21 in ICU, which is two more than yesterday. The 13 hospitals report no ICU or intermediate care beds available and 2 of 450 medical surgical beds among them.

VIRUS ACTIVITY

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) says COVID-19 numbers declined in more counties this week but the spread of the virus remains “very high” in most of the state.

The weekly update from the DHS says virus activity is still “critically high” in 19 counties, “very high” in 52, and “high” in 1 county. There are no counties where the spread is moderate or low. A week ago, it was critically high in 26 counties and very high in the remaining 46. Menominee is the one county that saw improvement to have “high” spread of the disease instead of very high. The counties we’re tracking in WBAY’s viewing area:

• Critically High: Brown, Forest, Kewaunee, Outagamie, Winnebago
• Very High: Calumet, Dodge, Door, Florence, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Shawano, Sheboygan, Waupaca, Waushara
• High: Menominee

The state says virus activity increased in almost 20 counties over the past two weeks. The rest saw no significant change. No counties saw virus activity shrink over the last two weeks.

VACCINATIONS

Monday marks one year since the first vaccinations in Wisconsin. The state is nearing a total 8 million doses (7,958,447) of COVID-19 vaccines administered. This includes more than 1.25 million booster shots (1,250,722). Thursday, 16- and 17-year-olds became eligible for boosters.

The Department of Health Services says 59.3% of the state’s population received at least one dose of vaccine, including 56.3% of the population that completed their vaccinations.

The DHS website still doesn’t report vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds, who became eligible for kid-sized doses of Pfizer vaccine more than 4 weeks ago. With three weeks between shots, some have already completed their vaccination series.

FRIDAY’S VACCINATIONS BY AGE GROUP (and change since last report)

• 12 to 15: 50.4% received vaccine (+0.0)/47.1% completed vaccinations (+0.1)
• 16 and 17: 54.4% received vaccine (+0.0)/51.2% completed vaccinations (+0.0)
• 18 to 24: 55.3% received vaccine (+0.1)/50.6% completed vaccinations (+0.0)
• 25 to 34: 60.1% received vaccine (+0.1)/55.9% completed vaccinations (+0.1)
• 35 to 44: 67.0% received vaccine (+0.0)/63.5% completed vaccinations (+0.1)
• 45 to 54: 67.6% received vaccine (+0.1)/64.7% completed vaccinations (+0.1)
• 55 to 64: 75.9% received vaccine (+0.1)/73.2% completed vaccinations (+0.0)
• 65 and up: 87.7% received vaccine (+0.1)/84.5% completed vaccinations (+0.1)

To find free COVID-19 vaccination sites near you, text your ZIP Code to 438829.

FRIDAY’S VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY POPULATION (and change since last report)

County (Population) (Health region)	% of population with at least 1 dose	% of population completed series
Brown (264,542) (NE)	60.3%	57.8%
Calumet (50,089) (FV)	53.1%	51.1%
Dodge (87,839)	48.8% (+0.1)	46.6% (+0.1)
Door (27,668) (NE)	75.1% (+0.1)	71.1% (+0.1)
Fond du Lac (103,403) (SE)	51.9% (+0.1)	49.6% (+0.1)
Forest (9,004)	49.6% (+0.1)	47.0% (+0.1)
Florence (4,295) (NE)	48.9% (+0.2)	46.9% (+0.2)
Green Lake (18,913) (FV)	53.9%	51.4%
Kewaunee (20,434) (NE)	49.4%	47.9%
Langlade (19,189)	51.5% (+0.1)	49.0% (+0.1)
Manitowoc (78,981) (NE)	56.6%	54.3% (+0.1)
Marinette (40,350) (NE)	50.1%	47.6% (-0.1)
Menominee (4,556) (FV)	71.6% (-0.1)	69.2% (-0.1)
Oconto (37,930) (NE)	50.4% (+0.3)	48.5% (+0.3)
Outagamie (187,885) (FV)	59.4% (-0.1)	57.0% (-0.1)
Shawano (40,899) (FV)	45.0%	43.1% (+0.1)
Sheboygan (115,340) (SE)	58.1% (+0.1)	55.6% (+0.1)
Waupaca (50,990) (FV)	52.2% (+0.1)	49.9%
Waushara (24,443) (FV)	43.3%	41.4%
Winnebago (171,907) (FV)	57.5%	54.9%
NORTHEAST REGION (474,200) (NE)	276,539 (58.3%)	264,798 (55.8%)
FOX VALLEY REGION (549,682) (FV)	306,304 (55.7%)	293,185 (53.3%, -0.1)
WISCONSIN (5,822,434)	3,454,773 (59.3%)	3,283,011 (56.4%, +0.1)

FRIDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (boldface indicates change in cases or deaths since the last report) **

• Brown – 46,615 cases (+363) (286 deaths) (+1)
• Calumet – 8,279 cases (+57) (67 deaths) (+2)
• Dickinson (Mich.)* - 3,522 cases (+26) (72 deaths) (+1)
• Dodge – 17,071 cases (+157) (213 deaths)
• Door – 4,080 cases (+21) (36 deaths) (+1)
• Florence - 601 cases (cases revised -1 by state) (14 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 19,302 cases (+155) (166 deaths) (+3)
• Forest - 1,675 cases (+13) (31 deaths) (+1)
• Gogebic (Mich.)* - 1,788 cases (+20) (29 deaths) (+1)
• Green Lake - 2,863 cases (+22) (35 deaths)
• Iron (Mich.)* – 1,604 cases (+12) (57 deaths)
• Kewaunee – 3,406 cases (+13) (35 deaths)
• Langlade - 3,420 cases (+9) (45 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 11,757 cases (+75) (102 deaths)
• Marinette - 7,020 6,989 cases (+31) (76 deaths) (+1)
• Menominee (Mich.)* - 2,959 cases (+23) (50 deaths)
• Menominee – 1,002 cases (+5) (11 deaths)
• Oconto – 6,767 cases (+29) (67 deaths) (+1)
• Outagamie – 29,464 cases (+200) (266 deaths) (+1)
• Shawano – 6,920 cases (+45) (84 deaths)
• Sheboygan – 19,828 cases (+136) (179 deaths) (+1)
• Waupaca – 7,985 cases (+43) (156 deaths)
• Waushara – 3,435 cases (+12) (54 deaths)
• Winnebago – 27,471 cases (+113) (263 deaths) (+3)

* You can find cases and deaths for all 72 Wisconsin counties on the DHS County Data website. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Hospital Association publishes updates Mondays through Fridays. Michigan Department of Health updates information on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

** Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The Wisconsin DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times, whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

From" https://www.wbay.com/2021/12/10/covid-19-wisconsin-cases-back-up-deaths-down/