MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Officials with Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) report Sunday the cumulative number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and are considered active cases in the state has fallen below 15%.
The percentage of active cases has fallen to 14.4%. That means there are 59,388 people who were diagnosed in the past 30 days and haven’t been medically cleared. The number of recovered people is up to 348,995, which is 84.7% of all cases. It should be noted that some of the people who fall under the definition of recovered still suffer lasting effects of their infection.
State health officials say fewer than 3,000 coronavirus test results came back positive in the past 24 hours, the first time that has happened in more than a week. The last time fewer than 3,000 new cases were added in a single day was November 30, which was the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Many testing sites were closed during that weekend, which caused a temporary dip in the numbers.
Out of the 10,564 new test results released Sunday, 26.42% of them were positive – a total of 2,791. Wisconsin has now seen 412,177 positive coronavirus test results since February 5.
The 7-day average dropped for a second day from 4,074 to 3,925. That average had a one day increase on Friday after dropping for four consecutive days.
It took Wisconsin seven-and-a-half months to reach the first 100,000 cases. It took three weeks to add the last 100,000, and that included a holiday period when many test centers were closed.
State health officials say 17 people died within the past 24 hours from COVID-19. Although it brought the seven day death average down from 60 to 59 deaths a day, it wasn’t enough to change the death rate. That percentage has held steady at 0.90% since Friday.
As of Sunday, the Wisconsin DHS says the state’s cumulative death toll is 3,719.
The next number to watch on the death toll will be 3,786, when it would tie accidents (vehicle, household, etc.) as the third-leading cause of death in Wisconsin, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures from 2018. With the current daily average of 59, that milestone could be reached early this week.
County-by-county case numbers and deaths are listed later in this report. New cases were added in all counties except for Forest, Iron, Menominee, Rusk, Vilas, and Waushara counties. The state revised the numbers from Saturday for Waushara County, and put a decrease of seven cases.
Meanwhile, out of the 17 new deaths, seven of them were reported in Barron County. The rest of the deaths were reported in Dunn, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Vernon, Waukesha and Winnebago counties.
The DHS announced new guidelines for quarantining, and will be in effect starting Monday. Following new CDC recommendations, people who had close contact with someone with COVID-19 only need to quarantine for 10 days if they don’t exhibit any symptoms. They can shorten that to 7 days if they get tested and receive a negative test result within 48 hours of the end of quarantine. The DHS hopes people will be more likely to quarantine if it’s a shorter duration. “While a shorter quarantine carries additional risk of spreading COVID-19, when done responsibly, it can make quarantining easier for more Wisconsinites,” Health Secretary-designee Andrea Palm wrote in a statement. People should still monitor themselves for symptoms for a full 14 days and should immediately isolate themselves if they develop any symptoms.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
The state reported 90 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 since Saturday. The 7-day average is more than 173 patients hospitalized per day, according to our calculations. Since that first patient 10 months ago, more than 18,000 people (18,216) have been hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, which is 4.4% of all cases.
Sunday’s figures from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) show 1,504 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals. There are currently 326 in ICU. In the Fox Valley region, where 13 hospitals serve eight counties, there are 92 COVID-19 patients, with 20 in ICU. The Northeast region, which has 10 hospitals serving 7 counties, has 117 COVID-19 patients, 33 of whom are in intensive care. All of those numbers decreased from Saturday, except the amount of people in the ICU in the Northeast region, which held steady from Sunday.
Daily changes in hospitalization numbers take deaths and discharges into account.
There were 6 patients at the alternate care facility at the state fairgrounds Sunday, a decrease of four from Saturday. The field hospital is meant to help free up hospital beds by taking patients who are close to being released from the hospital but not quite ready, such as those who are ambulatory but still need oxygen.
HOSPITAL READINESS
The WHA reported Sunday 207 of the state’s 1,466 ICU beds are open (14.12). That’s 11 more than Saturday. Counting ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative flow isolation, the state has 1,873 beds possibly available (16.76%). These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19, and whether a bed can be filled depends on whether the hospital has the necessary medical and support staff.
The Fox Valley region has 10 ICU beds (9.6%) unoccupied, and 13.48% of medical beds overall.
The Northeast region has 33 ICU beds open — seven more than Saturday. WHA numbers indicate 15.94% of intensive care unit beds and 23.74% of all medical beds are available if the hospitals have enough staffing.
SUNDAY’S COUNTY CASE NUMBERS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold.)*
Wisconsin*
- Adams – 1,129 cases (+7) (9 deaths)
- Ashland – 797 cases (+24) (10 deaths)
- Barron – 3,844 cases (+42) (47 deaths) (+7)
- Bayfield – 746 cases (+10) (16 deaths)
- Brown – 23,504 cases (+83) (148 deaths)
- Buffalo – 864 cases (+4) (5 deaths)
- Burnett – 844 cases (+11) (15 deaths)
- Calumet – 4,221 cases (+45) (28 deaths)
- Chippewa – 5,185 cases (+45) (55 deaths)
- Clark – 2,325 cases (+10) (44 deaths)
- Columbia – 3,646 cases (+26) (13 deaths)
- Crawford – 1,391 cases (+13) (9 deaths)
- Dane – 29,053 cases (+106) (104 deaths)
- Dodge – 9,017 cases (+94) (83 deaths)
- Door – 1,675 cases (+8) (11 deaths)
- Douglas – 2,324 cases (+41) (7 deaths)
- Dunn – 2,979 cases (+19) (15 deaths)(+1)
- Eau Claire – 8,149 cases (+50) (62 deaths)(+1)
- Florence – 352 cases (+3) (12 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 9,105 cases (+106) (53 deaths)
- Forest – 756 cases (19 deaths)
- Grant – 3,643 cases (+28) (65 deaths)
- Green – 1,861 cases (+13) (5 deaths)
- Green Lake – 1,228 cases (+5) (7 deaths)
- Iowa – 1,365 cases (+12) (5 deaths)
- Iron – 371 cases (10 deaths)
- Jackson – 1,953 cases (+16) (5 deaths)
- Jefferson – 5,671 cases (+29) (41 deaths)
- Juneau – 2,051 cases (+31) (7 deaths)
- Kenosha – 10,065 cases (+55) (159 deaths)
- Kewaunee – 1,740 cases (+5) (21 deaths)
- La Crosse – 8,677 cases (+36) (40 deaths)(+1)
- Lafayette – 1,113 cases (+8) (3 deaths)
- Langlade – 1,590 cases (+5) (28 deaths)
- Lincoln – 2,065 cases (+11) (35 deaths)
- Manitowoc – 5,210 cases (+28) (38 deaths)(+1)
- Marathon – 10,283 cases (+79) (133 deaths)
- Marinette – 3,116 cases (+4) (35 deaths)
- Marquette – 1,071 cases (+12) (15 deaths)
- Menominee – 591 cases (8 deaths)
- Milwaukee – 72,568 (+513) (775 deaths) (+1)
- Monroe – 2,846 cases (+48) (15 deaths)
- Oconto – 3,292 cases (+9) (32 deaths)
- Oneida – 2,479 cases (+24) (39 deaths)
- Outagamie – 14,315 cases (+79) (136 deaths)
- Ozaukee – 5,121 cases (+22) (39 deaths)
- Pepin – 515 cases (+2) (2 deaths)
- Pierce – 2,388 cases (+35) (19 deaths)
- Polk – 2,416 cases (+57) (18 deaths)
- Portage – 4,910 cases (+36) (42 deaths)
- Price – 791 cases (+3) (4 deaths)
- Racine – 14,830 cases (+63) (197 deaths)
- Richland – 920 cases (+4) (13 deaths)
- Rock – 10,053 cases (+169) (98 deaths)
- Rusk – 958 cases (9 deaths)
- Sauk – 3,795 cases (+22) (19 deaths)
- Sawyer – 970 cases (+12) (8 deaths)
- Shawano – 3,741 cases (+9) (49 deaths)
- Sheboygan – 9,608 cases (+63) (66 deaths)
- St. Croix – 4,615 cases (+63) (22 deaths)
- Taylor – 1,313 cases (+14) (11 deaths)
- Trempealeau – 2,587 cases (+16) (21 deaths)
- Vernon – 1,241 cases (+20) (15 deaths)(+3)
- Vilas – 1,347 cases (13 deaths)
- Walworth – 6,423 cases (+59) (57 deaths)
- Washburn – 789 cases (+19) (5 deaths)
- Washington – 9,599 cases (+65) (77 deaths)
- Waukesha – 28,223 cases (+95) (232 deaths) (+1)
- Waupaca – 3,799 cases (+10) (91 deaths)
- Waushara – 1,787 cases (State revised, decrease of 7) (11 deaths)
- Winnebago – 13,688 cases (+73) (127 deaths) (+1)
- Wood – 4,680 cases (+65) (32 deaths)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **
- Alger – 167 cases (1 death)
- Baraga – 424 cases (24 deaths)
- Chippewa – 404 cases (6 deaths)
- Delta – 2,303 cases (52 deaths)
- Dickinson – 1,768 cases (46 deaths)
- Gogebic – 620 cases (11 deaths)
- Houghton – 1,371 cases (14 deaths)
- Iron – 715 cases (31 deaths)
- Keweenaw – 62 cases (1 death)
- Luce – 122 cases
- Mackinac – 231 cases (1 death)
- Marquette – 2,784 cases (33 deaths)
- Menominee – 1,260 cases (19 deaths)
- Ontonagon – 264 cases (14 deaths)
- Schoolcraft – 178 cases (1 death)
Earlier this week, the DHS published a new, interactive map online that shows COVID-19 virus cases and deaths by county, municipality, ZIP Code or school district (CLICK HERE). You can view cases and deaths by total numbers or per capita or deaths as a percentage of total cases. Health Secretary-designee Andrea Palm says it “offers new ways for people to understand COVID-19 activity within their communities.”
* Viewers have asked us why the state has different numbers than what’s reported on some county health department websites. The 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.
The DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their death. Most of the people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, which raises a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19 but would’ve lived longer if not for their infection. The state may revise case and death numbers after further review, such as the victim’s residence, duplicated records, or a correction in lab results. Details can be found on the DHS website and Frequently Asked Questions.
**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.
Symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:
- Fever of 100.4 or higher
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Repeated shaking with chills
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
Prevention
- The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it. Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
- To help prevent the spread of the virus:
- Stay at least six feet away from other people
- Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
- Stay at home as much as possible
- Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments
- Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care
- Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
- Cover your mouth and nose with a mask. At a minimum, use a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
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