7-Day Average Of New COVID-19 Cases Hits Lowest Point Since June

New reports of COVID-19 cases are continuing to decline in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.

DHS reported 376 new cases of the disease Tuesday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 314 daily cases, the lowest that figure has been since June 23. One week ago, the average was 419 daily cases.

There were 2,399 negative tests reported Tuesday.

As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continue to decline, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.

A total of 5,067,919 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Tuesday, with 78.6 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated. According to DHS, 15.4 percent of the state’s 12- to 15-year-olds have had their first doses of vaccine. That age group became eligible May 13.

As of Tuesday, 2,391,907 people in Wisconsin, or 41.1 percent of the population, have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or two weeks after Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 6,998 people in Wisconsin. There were eight new deaths from COVID-19 reported Tuesday.

Other DHS data from Tuesday include:

• 608,959 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
• 3,541,176 total tests administered, 2,932,217 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
• 30,742 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 5 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
• Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 2,775 new test results were reported Tuesday.

Coronavirus rates vary from county to county. In order to track COVID-19 activity levels, DHS looks at the number of new cases per a county’s population over a 14-day period — and whether there’s an upward or downward trend in new cases. Activity levels range from “very high,” “high,” “medium,” to “low.”

As of Wednesday, DHS data showed the state had one county — Polk — with a “very high” level, while the majority of Wisconsin counties had “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in one county and shrinking trajectories in 12. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”

For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.

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