MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports testing identified 886 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, the most in a single day since February 12. They represent almost 27% (26.78%) of the 3,308 tests received from people being tested for the first time or testing positive. New cases were identified in 61 counties.
The 7-day average of the positivity rate looking at all tests -- including people who’ve been tested multiple times -- rose again to 3.5%, which is the highest it’s been since mid-February when it was on the decline. This is the state’s preferred metric for gauging the spread of the virus in our communities.
The percentage of active cases has risen to 1.3% of all coronavirus cases, which is equal to 7,562 people who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in the past 30 days and haven’t been medically cleared. The percentage of recovered cases fell to 97.6%, which is 566,646 people.
The DHS reports 8 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the state’s death toll to 6,648. That’s 1.14% of all cases. The deaths were reported in seven counties: Green, Green Lake, Jefferson (2), Milwaukee, Rock, St. Croix and Winnebago.
Currently, Wisconsin is averaging 634 new cases per day, the highest 7-day average since February 19. COVID-19 deaths are averaging 5 per day, maintaining their month-long lows.
County-by-county updates on case and death totals appear later in this article.
Everyone in Wisconsin 16 and older is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine as Wisconsin faces another rise in cases. To date, 20.4% of Wisconsin’s population is fully vaccinated, including 76.8% of senior adults, which is probably helping to keep the death count low.
Vaccinators in Wisconsin are picking up the pace after the Easter weekend. Tuesday, the state Department of Health Services reported 32,877 more vaccine doses were administered compared to Monday’s report. The state says 21,222 shots went into the arms of Wisconsin residents, including 14,169 people completing their vaccination regimen.
So far, 20.4% of Wisconsin’s population received at least one shot against the disease caused by the coronavirus, which was comparable to the third leading cause of death last year, behind cancer and heart disease.
Despite a sharp drop in vaccinations over the holiday weekend, Wisconsin is averaging almost 50,000 doses (49,927) delivered and 24,240 people completing their vaccinations each day over the past 7 days. At our current pace, the state should pass another milestone this week with 2,000,000 residents getting at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The DHS reports 3,120,369 doses of vaccines have been given since December 13, 2020. Numbers show most people are receiving the Pfizer vaccine. It’s important to note that vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only started in the past month, and, unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it requires one shot instead of two to get fully vaccinated.
- Johnson & Johnson: 89,406
- Moderna: 1,388,246
- Pfizer: 1,642,430
CLICK HERE for details on the new eligibility requirements
CLICK HERE to track vaccine data in Wisconsin
CLICK HERE for the First Alert Vaccine Team’s guide to vaccine clinics and vaccinators, including phone numbers and websites to make appointments and information on free rides to appointments.
TUESDAY’S COUNTY VACCINATION NUMBERS
| County (Population) | Received at least 1 dose (% of pop.) | Completed (% of pop.) |
|---|---|---|
| Brown (264,542) (NE) | 88,864 (33.6%) | 53,506 (20.2%) |
| Calumet (50,089) (FV) | 14,930 (29.8%) | 9,168 (18.3%) |
| Dodge (87,839) | 23,390 (26.6%) | 14,857 (16.6%) |
| Door (27,668) (NE) | 13,494 (48.8%) | 7,964 (28.8%) |
| Fond du Lac (103,403) (FV) | 30,424 (29.4%) | 20,900 (20.2%) |
| Forest (9,004) | 2,896 (32.2%) | 2,239 (24.9%) |
| Florence (4,295) (NE) | 1,252 (29.2%) | 990 (23.1%) |
| Green Lake (18,913) (FV) | 5,792 (30.6%) | 4,315 (22.8%) |
| Kewaunee (20,434) (NE) | 6,065 (29.7%) | 4,076 (19.9%) |
| Manitowoc (78,981) (NE) | 26,990 (34.2%) | 15,955 (20.2%) |
| Marinette (40,350) (NE) | 11,821 (29.3%) | 7,700 (19.1%) |
| Menominee (4,556) (FV) | 1,854 (40.7%) | 1,434 (31.5%) |
| Oconto (37,930) (NE) | 11,435 (30.1%) | 7,392 (19.5%) |
| Outagamie (187,885) (FV) | 59,077 (31.4%) | 35,348 (18.8%) |
| Shawano (40,899) (FV) | 10,903 (26.7%) | 7,164 (17.5%) |
| Sheboygan (115,340) | 38,124 (33.1%) | 21,013 (18.2%) |
| Waupaca (50,990) (FV) | 14,810 (29.0%) | 10,372 (20.3%) |
| Waushara (24,443) (FV) | 6,292 (25.7%) | 4,524 (18.5%) |
| Winnebago (171,907) (FV) | 53,443 (31.1%) | 34,810 (20.2%) |
| NORTHEAST REGION (NE) | 159,921 (33.7%) | 97,583 (20.6%) |
| FOX VALLEY REGION (FV) | 167,101 (30.4%) | 107,135 (19.5%) |
| WISCONSIN (5,822,434) | 1,944,054 (33.4%) | 1,185,478 (20.4%) |
HOSPITAL READINESS
The DHS reports 72 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the past 24-hour period. That’s well above the 7-day average of 48 hospitalizations per day.
We expect updated figures from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) later Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday there were 241 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state’s 136 hospitals, with 64 in ICU.
The WHA says Fox Valley region hospitals are treating 14 patients, with one in the ICU. Both the number of overall patients and the number of ICU patients lowered by one in the past 24 hours.
Northeast hospitals have 20 COVID-19 patients, three fewer than Sunday, and five in ICU. That figure held steady during the past 24 hours.
For hospital readiness, the WHA reports 303 ICU beds are available statewide. That’s 20.66% of the state’s ICU beds. Counting ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative-flow isolation, there are 2,245 hospital beds open in the state (20.09%). These hospital beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19.
The Fox Valley region’s 13 hospitals have 11 ICU beds (10.57%) available, an increase of five from Sunday. Those same hospitals have 93 of all hospital bed types (10.90%) available among them.
The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals have 35 ICU beds (16.91%) and 250 of all bed types (26.15%) available.
Although we use terms like “open” and “available,” a hospital can only put a patient in a bed if it has the staff to care for them, including doctors, nurses and food services.
TUESDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *
Wisconsin
- Adams – 1,646 cases (+8) (10 deaths)
- Ashland – 1,209 cases (+2) (16 deaths)
- Barron – 5,556 cases (+5) (76 deaths)
- Bayfield - 1,095 cases (19 deaths)
- Brown – 30,831 cases (+65) (233 deaths)
- Buffalo – 1,330 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
- Burnett – 1,246 cases (+1) (21 deaths)
- Calumet – 5,630 (+3) (46 deaths)
- Chippewa – 7,197 cases (+12) (94 deaths)
- Clark – 3,173 cases (+2) (58 deaths)
- Columbia – 5,214 cases (+4) (56 deaths)
- Crawford – 1,677 cases (17 deaths)
- Dane – 42,515 (+40) (289 deaths)
- Dodge – 11,586 cases (+10) (161 deaths)
- Door – 2,534 cases (+2) (21 deaths)
- Douglas – 3,783 cases (+8) (30 deaths)
- Dunn – 4,442 cases (+19) (31 deaths)
- Eau Claire – 11,296 cases (+7) (105 deaths)
- Florence - 432 cases (+2) (12 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 12,118 cases (+10) (105 deaths)
- Forest - 938 cases (+1) (23 deaths)
- Grant – 4,758 cases (84 deaths)
- Green – 3,387 cases (+5) (17 deaths) (+1)
- Green Lake - 1,548 cases (+2) (19 deaths) (+1)
- Iowa - 1,960 cases (+6) (10 deaths)
- Iron - 570 cases (+1) (21 deaths)
- Jackson - 2,580 cases (26 deaths)
- Jefferson – 8,115 cases (+27) (105 deaths) (+2)
- Juneau - 3,041 cases (+1) (21 deaths)
- Kenosha – 15,066 cases (+32) (303 deaths)
- Kewaunee – 2,307 cases (cases revised -2 by state) (24 deaths)
- La Crosse – 12,482 cases (+14) (80 deaths)
- Lafayette - 1,511 cases (+2) (7 deaths)
- Langlade - 1,947 cases (+2) (32 deaths)
- Lincoln – 2,957 cases (+1) (60 deaths)
- Manitowoc – 7,371 cases (+6) (68 deaths)
- Marathon – 13,981 cases (+16) (184 deaths)
- Marinette - 4,013 cases (+3) (65 deaths)
- Marquette – 1,338 cases (+2) (21 deaths)
- Menominee - 790 cases (+1) (11 deaths)
- Milwaukee – 101,541 (+121) (1,264 deaths) (+1)
- Monroe – 4,388 cases (36 deaths)
- Oconto – 4,317 cases (+2) (49 deaths)
- Oneida - 3,518 cases (+3) (68 deaths)
- Outagamie – 20,026 cases (+26) (200 deaths)
- Ozaukee – 7,916 cases (+11) (82 deaths)
- Pepin – 823 cases (+6) (7 deaths)
- Pierce – 3,663 cases (+2) (35 deaths)
- Polk – 4,055 cases (+20) (43 deaths)
- Portage – 6,566 cases (+10) (67 deaths)
- Price – 1,185 cases (7 deaths)
- Racine – 20,788 cases (+47) (336 deaths)
- Richland - 1,275 cases (15 deaths)
- Rock – 14,912 cases (+11) (165 deaths) (+1)
- Rusk - 1,272 cases (16 deaths)
- Sauk – 5,522 cases (+4) (44 deaths)
- Sawyer - 1,578 cases (+1) (23 deaths)
- Shawano – 4,634 cases (+6) (69 deaths)
- Sheboygan – 13,336 cases (+12) (134 deaths)
- St. Croix – 6,947 cases (+26) (49 deaths) (+1)
- Taylor - 1,826 cases (+3) (24 deaths)
- Trempealeau – 3,475 cases (+4) (38 deaths)
- Vernon – 1,881 cases (+1) (38 deaths)
- Vilas - 2,197 cases (39 deaths)
- Walworth – 9,104 cases (+32) (136 deaths)
- Washburn – 1,364 cases (+1) (18 deaths)
- Washington – 14,156 cases (+18) (141 deaths)
- Waukesha – 42,363 cases (+129) (503 deaths)
- Waupaca – 4,791 cases (+2) (116 deaths)
- Waushara – 2,122 cases (31 deaths)
- Winnebago – 17,586 cases (+58) (190 deaths) (+1)
- Wood – 6,774 cases (+10) (77 deaths)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula** (County case numbers include Sunday and Monday updates)
- Alger - 292 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Baraga - 520 cases (33 deaths)
- Chippewa - 895 cases (+4) (25 deaths)
- Delta – 2,844 cases (+11) (68 deaths)
- Dickinson - 2,214 cases (+3) (55 deaths)
- Gogebic - 974 cases (+1) (22 deaths)
- Houghton – 2,308 cases (+4) (32 deaths)
- Iron – 886 cases (+1) (42 deaths)
- Keweenaw – 125 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Luce – 147 cases (+3)
- Mackinac - 327 cases (+2) (3 deaths)
- Marquette - 3,689 cases (+10) (55 deaths)
- Menominee - 1,663 cases (+2) (39 deaths)
- Ontonagon – 377 cases (20 deaths)
- Schoolcraft - 268 cases (+1) (4 deaths)
* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. 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 state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.
CDC GUIDANCE ON GATHERINGS
The Centers for Disease Control have announced that fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing.
The CDC’s recommendations also say vaccinated people can come together in the same way – in a single household -- with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.
The CDC is continuing to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear well-fitted masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when out in public. The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.
COVID-19 TRACING APP
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 tracing app, “Wisconsin Exposure Notification,” is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough, for long enough, they’ll anonymously share a random string of numbers via Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, they’ll receive a code to type into the app. If your phones “pinged” each other in the last 14 days, you’ll receive a push notification that you are at risk of exposure. The app doesn’t collect personal information or location information, so you won’t know from whom or where, but you will be told what day the exposure might have occurred so that you can quarantine for the appropriate amount of time.
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
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