DHS: 507 New COVID-19 Cases On Monday

With No New Deaths Reported, State's Total Remains At 998

By
People wearing mask because of the pandemic
Pedestrians wearing masks on Wednesday, Aug 5, 2020, at UW-Madison. Angela Major/WPR

New reports of COVID-19 cases dropped by half in Wisconsin Monday compared to a record high number of positives on Saturday, based on the latest data published by the state’s Department of Health Services.

Such a drop is typical for a Monday, a day on which the DHS consistently reports fewer test results compared to other days of the week.

DHS reported 507 new cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 819 daily cases. The latest data brings the overall total of positive cases in Wisconsin to 61,061, according to the DHS.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

A total of 998 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19. No new deaths were reported on Monday.

According to DHS, just more than 6.2 percent of all test results reported on Monday were positive for COVID-19, bringing the average percentage of positive tests over the past seven days to 6.3 percent. That’s the same seven-day average as recorded one week ago.

The percentage of positive cases is often read by public health officials as a measure of overall testing levels. A high rate could indicate that testing in the state is limited, and skewed toward those already flagged as potentially having the virus. A lower rate could indicate testing is more widespread.

Changes in the test positivity rate can also speak to a virus’ spread, if the size and makeup of the testing pool stays consistent.

Wisconsin’s daily testing capacity — based on the availability of test supplies and adequate staffing — has grown from 120 available lab tests in early March to 24,156 as of Monday. The number of actual people with test results reported on Monday was 8,167.

Overall, DHS has recorded a total of 1,062,463 people’s test results over the course of the pandemic. 1,001,402 have tested negative.

COVID-19 activity varies heavily from county to county. The latest coronavirus activity data from DHS, released once per week each Wednesday, showed that 66 counties had a “high level” of coronavirus activity. Activity level designations are based on “burden,” or the number of new cases per a county’s population over a 14-day period, as well as whether there’s an upward or downward trend in new cases.

On Aug. 5, counties with the highest case rates per capita included Iron, Barron and Burnett. The counties with the most significant upward trends included Iowa, Green and Washburn.

There have been confirmed cases in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties, and based on the data released Wednesday, every county had a case over the previous two-week period

___________________________

DHS still has a dashboard showing Wisconsin’s progress on gating criteria under the now-defunct Badger Bounce Back Plan. Those gating criteria would have been used to determine when it would be safe to begin reopening the state, prior to the state Supreme Court ruling that ended a statewide stay-at-home order. The state has never met all six of the criteria at once.

Two of the criteria are a statistically significant 14-day downward trend in COVID-like cases reported in emergency departments, and a similar downward trend for influenza-like cases in emergency departments. While the criteria for COVID-like cases has been met the criteria for downward trend of influenza-like cases has not.

According to DHS, 5,031 people have required hospitalization due to COVID-19 as of Monday. That means at least 8 percent of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the state have been hospitalized. DHS officials said they don’t know the hospitalization history of 20,724 people, or 34 percent.