New reports of COVID-19 cases are increasing slightly in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.
DHS reported 450 new cases of the disease Saturday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 472 daily cases. One week ago, the average was 378 daily cases.
As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin remain significantly lower than what they were at the beginning of the year, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.
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A total of 2,663,762 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Friday, with 55.4 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated.
As of Saturday, 948,765 people in Wisconsin, or 16.3 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.
Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 6,598 people in Wisconsin. There was one new death from COVID-19 reported Saturday.
Other DHS data from Friday include:
- 575,320 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
- 3,281,176 total tests administered, 2,702,564 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
- 27,403 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 4.8 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
- Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 3,742 new test results were reported Friday.
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 “critically high,” “very high,” “high,” “medium,” to “low.”
As of Wednesday, DHS data showed the state had no counties with “critically high” or “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity. The majority of Wisconsin counties have “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Rock, Waupaca and Washington counties. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”
For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.
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