State cases of COVID-19 increase by 291 after dip in new cases
After two days with fewer than 200 new cases of coronavirus and a 50-day low in percent of tests that came back positive, Wisconsin saw a more typical update Wednesday, with 291 newly reported cases and an uptick in the percent-positive rate to 6.25%
Three more people died of COVID-19 by the state’s official count, bringing the total to 421.
The Wisconsin Hospital Association reported Wednesday morning that 343 people were currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, while 169 inpatients awaited test results.
There were more than 4.3 million confirmed cases worldwide by midday, according to a case tracker created by Johns Hopkins University, with nearly 1.4 million in the U.S. COVID-19 had killed nearly 295,000 people globally and more than 83,000 in the U.S.
A well-known statistical model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation revised its estimate for deaths in Wisconsin through early August, up from 673 to 791.
Ninety-four people have died in Wisconsin since May 1.
Authors of the IHME projections wrote that recent changes to state estimates “are likely due to a combination of updated data inputs on COVID-19 epidemiologic indicators and key drivers of viral transmission like changes in testing and mobility, as well as easing of distancing policies.”
Tuesday, the percent of new tests that were positive was 3.9%, the lowest since the state stopped including repeated tests of the same patients in its daily reports. Wisconsin hasn’t reached double digits in that number since May 3, when the percent of new tests that were positive was 11%.