MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) –State health officials say fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the latest batch of test results. According to the Department of Health Services (DHS), 934 people had their test results come back positive for the virus on Saturday. That’s the second time this month the state has confirmed fewer than 1,000 new cases within a 24-hour period. On February 1, only 750 new cases were confirmed.
The 934 new positive results were part of a total of 4,438 test results. The other 3,504 results were negative. New cases were confirmed in all Wisconsin counties except for Adams, Bayfield, Crawford, Forest, Langlade, Marquette, Richland, Rusk and Taylor counties. The state revised case numbers in Langlade County, and revised death numbers in Barron and Kenosha counties.
Saturday’s positive test results accounted for 21.05% of the total number of test results. The number of new cases is fewer cases than the average of 1,107 over the past week, and the positivity rate is also below the 7-day average, which is 22.53% by our calculations. If you count the results of every test — including people who’ve been tested multiple times — the state says the average positivity rate held steady at 4.7% Friday, after dropping to that percentage Thursday, based on preliminary numbers.
The low amount of positive test results comes as health officials ramp up COVID-19 vaccine administrations.
The state set a new record for completed COVID-19 vaccinations for a fourth day in a row, with 14,443 people getting their second and final shot. The Department of Health Services says 158,053 people have now finished the vaccination series. A total of 740,526 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, which is 49,828 more since Friday. These numbers are preliminary as vaccinators’ reports continue coming in.
Friday marked one year since state health officials reported the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Wisconsin. Since then, a total of 549,155 people tested positive for the virus, and another 2,531,066 have tested negative.
Out of those positive cases, 527,575 people, or 96.1%, are considered recovered, while another 15,369 people, or 2.8%, are considered active cases.
According to the DHS, another 32 people died due to COVID-19 complications within the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s death toll to 6,052. The state crossed the 6,000 cumulative death mark on Friday. The death rate in Wisconsin continues to hold at 1.1%.
Wisconsin is averaging 23 deaths per day from the virus over the past week. That average held steady from Friday and was also at 23 on Wednesday. 23 is the lowest 7-day death average since late October.
County-by-county case and death numbers are listed later in this article.
VACCINATIONS
Action 2 News has put together a guide of vaccination clinics and health agencies distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to people age 65 and older. CLICK HERE for locations and phone numbers and websites to register.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
90 people were hospitalized for serious COVID-19 symptoms in the past 24-hour period, according to the DHS. The state is averaging 83 hospitalizations per day for the disease. In the past 12 months, 24,824 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized for treatment, or 4.5% of all known cases.
The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reports as of Saturday, there were 570 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the state, 13 fewer than Friday. Out of those patients, 151 are in intensive care, which is eight fewer patients than Friday. Daily changes in hospitalizations take new admissions, discharges and deaths into account.
Fox Valley hospitals region were caring for 33 COVID-19 patients, 10 fewer than Friday. Six of the patients are in ICU, two fewer than Friday.
Northeast region hospitals were treating 49 COVID-19 patients, four fewer than Friday. 14 patients are in the ICU, which held steady from Friday.
HOSPITAL READINESS
In terms of hospital readiness, The WHA reported 271 ICU beds (18.48%) and 2,329 (20.84%) of all medical beds (ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative flow isolation) were open in the state’s 134 hospitals.
The Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals reported 8 open ICU beds (7.69%) among them. The hospitals had a total 109 unoccupied medical beds (12.77%) for the eight counties they serve.
The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals had 43 ICU beds (20.77%) and 281 of all medical beds (29.39%) open for patients in seven counties.
These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. We use the terms “open” or “unoccupied” instead of “available” because whether a bed can be filled depends on hospitals having the staff for a patient in that bed, including doctors, nurses and food services.
There were no hospital overflow patients at the state’s alternate care facility near the State Fairgrounds on Saturday.
In addition, the DHS says Friday was the last day the Bamlanivimab Infusion Clinic was open. The clinic had opened on December 22, and referrals to the clinic were from southeast Wisconsin health systems. According to the state, those same health care systems now have the capacity to care for those patients.
SATURDAY’S COUNTY CASE NUMBERS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *
Wisconsin
- Adams – 1,523 cases (11 deaths)
- Ashland – 1,160 cases (+3) (16 deaths)
- Barron – 5,183 cases (+4) (72 deaths) (State revised, decrease of 1)
- Bayfield – 1,052 cases (18 deaths)
- Brown – 29,633 cases (+26) (199 deaths)
- Buffalo – 1,290 cases (+2) (7 deaths)
- Burnett – 1,123 cases (+4) (23 deaths)
- Calumet – 5,332 cases (+6) (39 deaths)
- Chippewa – 6,902 cases (+14) (86 deaths) (+2)
- Clark – 3,126 cases (+6) (56 deaths)
- Columbia – 4,899 cases (+6) (46 deaths)
- Crawford – 1,644 cases (17 deaths)
- Dane – 38,588 cases (+101) (256 deaths)
- Dodge – 11,228 cases (+13) (153 deaths) (+2)
- Door – 2,369 cases (+2) (18 deaths)
- Douglas – 3,623 cases (+10) (23 deaths) (+5)
- Dunn – 4,131 cases (+3) (26 deaths)
- Eau Claire – 10,743 cases (+36) (101 deaths)
- Florence – 430 cases (+1) (12 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 11,682 cases (+31) (87 deaths) (+1)
- Forest – 914 cases (22 deaths)
- Grant – 4,551 cases (+5) (79 deaths)
- Green – 2,840 cases (+18) (13 deaths)
- Green Lake – 1,508 cases (+1) (17 deaths)
- Iowa – 1,812 cases (+1) (9 deaths)
- Iron – 489 cases (+2) (19 deaths)
- Jackson – 2,555 cases (+2) (22 deaths)
- Jefferson – 7,653 cases (+10) (73 deaths)
- Juneau – 2,921 cases (+12) (18 deaths) (+1)
- Kenosha – 14,431 cases (+26) (280 deaths) (State revised, decrease of 1)
- Kewaunee – 2,377 cases (+2) (27 deaths)
- La Crosse – 11,893 cases (+24) (74 deaths)
- Lafayette – 1,387 cases (+2) (7 deaths)
- Langlade – 1,902 cases (State revised, decrease of 1) (31 deaths)
- Lincoln – 2,838 cases (+6) (56 deaths) (+1)
- Manitowoc – 7,058 cases (+9) (61 deaths)
- Marathon – 13,386 cases (+5) (170 deaths)
- Marinette – 3,930 cases (+3) (61 deaths)
- Marquette – 1,286 cases (21 deaths)
- Menominee – 791 cases (+1) (11 deaths)
- Milwaukee – 96,051 (+172) (1,180 deaths) (+5)
- Monroe – 4,145 cases (+5) (30 deaths)
- Oconto – 4,192 cases (+3) (47 deaths)
- Oneida – 3,255 cases (+5) (62 deaths) (+5)
- Outagamie – 18,683 cases (+53) (185 deaths)
- Ozaukee – 7,443 cases (+21) (72 deaths)
- Pepin – 784 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
- Pierce – 3,373 cases (+10) (33 deaths)
- Polk – 3,672 cases (+10) (42 deaths)
- Portage – 6,264 cases (+8) (60 deaths)
- Price – 1,121 cases (+3) (7 deaths)
- Racine – 19,987 cases (+31) (302 deaths) (+2)
- Richland – 1,246 cases (13 deaths)
- Rock – 13,973 cases (+25) (148 deaths)
- Rusk – 1,234 cases (16 deaths)
- Sauk – 5,129 cases (+3) (37 deaths)
- Sawyer – 1,438 cases (+3) (17 deaths)
- Shawano – 4,530 cases (+5) (69 deaths)
- Sheboygan – 12,542 cases (+14) (125 deaths) (+2)
- St. Croix – 6,197 cases (+8) (41 deaths)
- Taylor – 1,766 cases (20 deaths)
- Trempealeau – 3,311 cases (+8) (36 deaths)
- Vernon – 1,771 cases (+6) (35 deaths) (+1)
- Vilas – 2,014 cases (+5) (32 deaths)
- Walworth – 8,687 cases (+16) (122 deaths) (+2)
- Washburn – 1,251 cases (+2) (18 deaths)
- Washington – 13,426 cases (+8) (125 deaths)
- Waukesha – 39,575 cases (+65) (457 deaths) (+4)
- Waupaca – 4,667 cases (+8) (108 deaths)
- Waushara – 2,057 cases (+4) (28 deaths)
- Winnebago – 16,678 cases (+18) (173 deaths) (+2)
- Wood – 6,510 cases (+18) (68 deaths)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **
- Alger – 275 cases (1 death)
- Baraga – 493 cases (+1) (31 deaths)
- Chippewa – 706 cases (+3) (20 deaths)
- Delta – 2,622 cases (65 deaths) (+2)
- Dickinson – 2,113 cases (+5) (55 deaths)
- Gogebic – 873 cases (+1) (18 deaths)
- Houghton – 2,010 cases (State revised, decrease of 1) (32 deaths)
- Iron – 858 cases (+1) (39 deaths)
- Keweenaw – 104 cases (1 death)
- Luce – 131 cases
- Mackinac – 278 cases (3 deaths)
- Marquette – 3,421 cases (+1) (53 deaths)
- Menominee – 1,598 cases (34 deaths)
- Ontonagon – 345 cases (+1) (18 deaths)
- Schoolcraft – 229 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 DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their death. Most of the people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, which raises a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19. They would’ve lived longer if not for their infection. The state may revise case and death numbers after further review, such as the victim’s residence, duplicated records, or a correction in lab results. Details can be found on the DHS website and Frequently Asked Questions.
**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.
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
Prevention
- The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it.
- Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
- To help prevent the spread of the virus:
- Stay at least six feet away from other people
- Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
- Stay at home as much as possible
- Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments
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