New reports of COVID-19 cases are averaging below 1,500 cases per day in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.
DHS reported 1,493 new cases of the disease Saturday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 1,365 daily cases. Saturday’s seven-day average is the lowest that figure has been since Sept. 16, when it was 1,340 cases.
There were 33 new deaths from COVID-19 reported Saturday. On Saturday, 4,870 tested negative.
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
Of the people tested for COVID-19 over the past week, 19.5 percent were positive for the disease, according to DHS. That rate has been rising slightly the past few days.
The positivity rate 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 COVID-19. A lower rate could indicate testing is more widespread. Changes in the test positivity rate can also speak to COVID-19’s spread, if the size and makeup of the testing pool stays consistent.
DHS also tracks the percentage of tests that are positive, instead of the percentage of people who get a positive result. The metric takes into account people who have been tested multiple times. The seven-day average for that number is 5.3 percent.
According to DHS, 846,300 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been allocated to the state by the federal government as of Tuesday, an increase of 66,500 from a week ago. Currently, 521,762 doses of the vaccines have been administered, and 98,754 people have received both shots, completing the vaccination series.
A graph showing the daily number of vaccinations across the state has seen a steady increase in doses administered since the beginning of 2021 — although doses administered dip on weekends and doses administered tend to be lower on Mondays compared to other weekdays. There was a sharp increase in administered vaccines between Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the number of administered vaccines dipped throughout the rest of the week. Preliminary data since Dec. 15 shows the number of vaccinations mostly increasing.
According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, there were 678 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Friday. A total of 24,243 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 4.5 percent of all positive cases.
The latest figures bring the overall total of positive cases in Wisconsin to 541,408, according to DHS. A total of 5,893 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19.
COVID-19 activity varies from county to county. The latest activity data from DHS, released Wednesday, showed the state had moved to having no counties with a “critically high” level of COVID-19 activity. Forty-seven counties were listed as having a “very high” level of activity and 25 counties had a “high” level of activity. The number of Wisconsin counties at a “critically high” and “very high” level of COVID-19 activity has been decreasing. Wisconsin’s overall level is “very high.”
COVID-19 activity designations are based on 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.
As of Wednesday, all seven of Wisconsin’s regions had “very high” levels of activity and were seeing “shrinking” levels or “no significant change” of COVID-19 activity, according to DHS.
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 59,275 as of Saturday. The number of actual people with new test results reported Saturday was 6,363.
A total of 3,044,795 people have been tested over the course of the pandemic. Of those, 2,503,387 have tested negative.
___________________________
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
