MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reports almost 92% of the state’s ICU beds, and 90% of all hospital beds, are filled. Almost 58% of hospitals report their ICUs are at peak capacity, and just over 40% report their medical centers are at overall peak capacity. Over the past two weeks, hospitalizations increased 23% in the eight-county Fox Valley region, which has 13 hospitals serving them. The Northwest region of the state saw a 14% increase, while the rest of the state has seen no significant change, and no decline, in two weeks.
These numbers include patients being treated for any condition, not just COVID-19, but hospital systems are sending out dire messages. ThedaCare reported it had no ICU beds in its health system on Tuesday because COVID-19 patients require longer stays. President/CEO Dr. Imran Adnrabi released a statement, “Our teams are currently strained caring for COVID and non-COVID patients. We must be available to care for those with COVID, and those suffering from serious medical situations such as heart attacks, stroke, trauma and providing cancer care treatments, and we cannot do that without the communities’ help to change course and get COVID infections under control.” ThedaCare says Wisconsin ranks #2 in the nation for the largest increase in COVID-19 cases over the past week, citing the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
CASES, DEATHS and HOSPITALIZATIONS
Thursday, the DHS reported 3,075 newly confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus. The state is averaging 2,807 new cases every day over the past week. An average 7.5% of coronavirus tests in the last 7 days were positive, which is down from 7.7%. Brown County passed 36,000 cases;
COVID-19′s death toll grew by 19, including 18 deaths that occurred in the past 30 days. Outagamie and Waushara counties both reported 2 deaths; Fond du Lac and Langlade counties both reported 1. The state is averaging 13 deaths per day from the virus. That rolling, 7-day average is up from 12 yesterday.
Thursday’s numbers show 119 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the past 24-hour period. Our calculated 7-day average is 109 hospital admissions per day. The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reports 1,115 COVID-19 patients across the state Thursday, the most at one time since January 6. Of these, 331 are in intensive care — or 1 in 3. It’s 13 more people in ICU and 12 more patients overall since Wednesday.
Hospitals in the Northeast region are treating 115 of them, including 32 in ICU — 6 more in intensive care and 3 more overall in the past day, with just 4 more ICU beds available among the 10 hospitals. The Fox Valley region has 104 patients, 1 more than Wednesday, with 21 in ICU, which is 1 fewer, with 8 ICU beds remaining among 13 hospitals, according to the WHA.
Wisconsin state health officials say the spread of the COVID-19 virus reached critical levels in 8 counties. These include Forest, Green Lake and Oconto counties. Virus activity is “very high” in 62 counties and high in the remaining 2, including Florence County. There are no counties with moderate or low activity. These labels are based on the number of positive cases per capita over the last two weeks (the “burden”) and the percent change in the number of cases in the past week (the “trajectory”).
Health Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake blames the more-contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. She says the state is still emphasizing all the things that can be done to slow the spread of the virus: Get one of the vaccines, wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands frequently, stay home if you feel sick.
VACCINATIONS
More than 6.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine doses (6,306,911) have been doled out since December 13 last year. Almost 3.1 million Wisconsinites (3,098,376) have completed their vaccination series, out of 3,283,330 who had at least one shot in the arm. That’s 53.2% of the state’s population fully vaccinated, out of 56.4% that started the process.
Looking only at adults, 67.3% of women and 59.7% of men are fully vaccinated, out of 70.8% of women and 63.2% of men who’ve rolled up their sleeves so far.
Wisconsinites getting COVID-19 vaccine, by age group (and change since last report)
- 12-15: 45.8% received vaccine (+0.1)/40.5% fully vaccinated (+0.1)
- 16-17: 51.3% received vaccine (+0.1)/46.8% fully vaccinated (+0.2)
- 18-24: 51.2% received vaccine (+0.1)/46.1% fully vaccinated (+0.1)
- 25-34: 55.4% received vaccine (+0.0)/50.8% fully vaccinated (+0.1)
- 35-44: 63.1% received vaccine (+0.0)/58.8% fully vaccinated (+0.1)
- 45-54: 64.4% received vaccine (+0.0)/60.8% fully vaccinated (+0.1)
- 55-64: 73.3% received vaccine (+0.1)/70.3% fully vaccinated (+0.0)
- 65 and up: 85.3% received vaccine (+0.0)/83.3% fully vaccinated (+0.0)
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY POPULATION (WEDNESDAY)
| County (Population) (Health region) | % of population (change from previous report) | Completed % of population (change from previous report) |
|---|---|---|
| Brown (264,542) (NE) | 57.1% (+0.0) | 54.2% (+0.2) |
| Calumet (50,089) (FV) | 51.1% (+0.0) | 48.6% (+0.1) |
| Dodge (87,839) | 46.2% (+0.1) | 43.5% (+0.1) |
| Door (27,668) (NE) | 71.3% (+0.0) | 68.3% (+0.0) |
| Fond du Lac (103,403) (SE) | 49.3% (+0.1) | 46.3% (+0.1) |
| Forest (9,004) | 46.6% (+0.1) | 43.9% (+0.1) |
| Florence (4,295) (NE) | 47.1% (+0.0) | 45.4% (+0.0) |
| Green Lake (18,913) (FV) | 50.7% (+0.1) | 47.6% (+0.2) |
| Kewaunee (20,434) (NE) | 46.5% (+0.0) | 44.4% (+0.1) |
| Manitowoc (78,981) (NE) | 53.6% (+0.0) | 50.9% (+0.1) |
| Marinette (40,350) (NE) | 47.3% (+0.1) | 44.5% (+0.2) |
| Menominee (4,556) (FV) | 67.4% (+0.4) | 62.4% (+0.5) |
| Oconto (37,930) (NE) | 47.8% (+0.1) | 45.5% (+0.2) |
| Outagamie (187,885) (FV) | 56.8% (+0.0) | 53.8% (+0.1) |
| Shawano (40,899) (FV) | 42.4% (+0.0) | 39.9% (+0.1) |
| Sheboygan (115,340) (SE) | 54.9% (+0.0) | 52.3% (+0.2) |
| Waupaca (50,990) (FV) | 49.5% (+0.0) | 46.6% (+0.1) |
| Waushara (24,443) (FV) | 40.4% (+0.0) | 38.4% (+0.1) |
| Winnebago (171,907) (FV) | 54.6% (+0.0) | 51.6% (+0.1) |
| NORTHEAST REGION (474,200) (NE) | 261,958 (55.2%) (+0.0) | 248,609 (52.4%) (+0.1) |
| FOX VALLEY REGION (549,682) (FV) | 291,406 (53.0%) (+0.0) | 275,464 (50.1%) (+0.1) |
| WISCONSIN (5,822,434) | 3,283,330 (56.4%) (+0.1) | 3,098,376 (53.2%) (+0.1) |
COVID-19 VACCINATION CLINICS
Wednesday, the City of Green Bay and Brown County announced vaccination clinics in October to reach people who live and work in and around downtown. These free clinics are on the first floor of the Sophie Beaumont Building, 111 N. Jefferson St., on October 1 from 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. and October 8 from 12 P.M. to 3 P.M. People will get the Pfizer vaccine, and clinics for their second dose will be held three weeks later.
The community vaccination clinic inside Fox River Mall in Grand Chute is open from 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. on select dates through December 15. The list of dates will be updated on the Outagamie County website. No appointment is necessary for this walk-in clinic, which is located near the food court and Scheel’s. There’s no cost and no ID required.
On top of encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, health officials are also urging people to get vaccinated against the flu as soon as possible, so that overwhelmed hospitals don’t have to deal with flu cases in addition to the COVID-19 cases. The flu season was almost non-existent last year when more people were self-isolating or social distancing, masking, and following other mitigation protocols against COVID-19 — the same protocols that slow the spread of the flu virus.
COVID-19 TESTING SITES
Walk-in or drive-through COVID-19 testing is available at Sunnyview Expo Center weekdays from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., with the Wisconsin National Guard handling the testing. Registration is encouraged at www.winnebagopublichealth.org. Testing is recommended (and free) for anyone as young as 1 year old who’s been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19, which can include fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, headache, muscle ache, or sudden loss of taste or smell. Results are usually back within 48 hours.
The City of Appleton announced a walk-in clinic in the old Best Buy building, 2411 S. Kensington Dr. It’s open every Tuesday from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. through Dec. 14 (see the list of dates here). Pre-registration isn’t required, but it’s encouraged to speed up the process.
THURSDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (increase since the last report is in bold)**
- Brown – 36,120 cases (+131) (264 deaths)
- Calumet – 6,546 cases (+21) (53 deaths)
- Dickinson (Mich.)* – 2,720 cases (60 deaths)
- Dodge – 13,491 cases (+37) (188 deaths)
- Door – 3,057 cases (+20) (31 deaths)
- Florence – 480 cases (+1) (13 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 14,707 cases (+71) (141 deaths) (+1)
- Forest – 1,222 cases (+15) (26 deaths)
- Gogebic (Mich.)* – 1,226 cases (23 deaths)
- Green Lake – 2,035 cases (+22) (25 deaths)
- Iron (Mich.)* – 1,136 cases (43 deaths)
- Kewaunee – 2,640 cases (+17) (30 deaths)
- Langlade – 2,466 cases (+21) (37 deaths) (+1)
- Manitowoc – 8,658 cases (+52) (80 deaths)
- Marinette – 4,791 cases (+23) (69 deaths)
- Menominee (Mich.)* – 2,182 cases (44 deaths)
- Menominee – 872 cases (+1) (11 deaths)
- Oconto – 5,275 cases (+29) (65 deaths)
- Outagamie – 23,227 cases (+74) (233 deaths) (+2)
- Shawano – 5,414 cases (+37) (75 deaths)
- Sheboygan – 15,517 cases (+57) (155 deaths)
- Waupaca – 5,779 cases (+20) (134 deaths)
- Waushara – 2,539 cases (+8) (42 deaths) (+2)
- Winnebago – 21,141 cases (+101) (215 deaths)
* You can find a list of cases and deaths for all Wisconsin counties on the DHS County Data website. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Hospital Association do not publish updates on weekends. Update: Michigan Department of Health updates information on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
** Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The Wisconsin 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.
Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.