47 state counties have ‘high’ virus activity
Health department confirms 598 new cases
The state health department confirmed 598 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and updated its weekly rankings of virus activity levels, bumping 13 more counties into the “high” group.
Officials acknowledged Wisconsin’s surge in cases during a media briefing Tuesday. The state’s seven-day rolling average of new cases now stands at 565, up significantly from mid-June, which saw averages under 300.
The county activity rankings reflect the same trend. When the Department of Health Services first released the data for the week of June 17, just 19 counties had high disease activity levels. Now, 47 fall into that category.
Wednesday’s new positive tests accounted for roughly 5.6% of the 10,736 tests run since Tuesday. Two more deaths were reported, bringing the state’s total to 807.
Hospitalizations ticked up slightly on Wednesday, when there were 274 people hospitalized with COVID-19, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported, an increase of 20 from Tuesday. Seventy-four were in the intensive care unit.
The DHS county activity ratings are based on measures known as burden and trajectory.
A county’s “burden” is the number of confirmed cases it reported per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. A county’s burden is considered to be at least “moderately high” if that case rate is greater than 50.
Dane County, where officials recently closed bars and implemented a mandatory mask policy, had the most new cases per 100,000 residents this week, with 260. Next were Milwaukee County (230), Trempealeau County (200), and Walworth and La Crosse counties (190 each).
A county’s “trajectory” is the percentage of change in cases over two weeks. Trajectory is said to be “growing” if the percentage is greater than 10% and measures as statistically significant. Thirteen counties showed statistically significant increases.
County activity ratings as of Wednesday, July 8, are as follows. Parentheses reflect a change in the activity level from last week’s ratings.
High: Adams (up), Brown, Calumet, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford (up), Dane, Douglas, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac (up), Forest, Grant,
Green (up), Green Lake (up), Iowa, Iron, Jefferson, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette (up), Marquette (up), Menominee, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oconto (up), Outagamie, Ozaukee, Pierce, Polk (up), Portage, Racine, Rock, Sauk (up), Sheboygan (up), St. Croix, Trempealeau, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara (up), Winnebago, Wood (up)
Medium: Barron, Buffalo, Burnett (up), Dodge, Door, Dunn (down), Florence, Jackson, Juneau (down), Lafayette (down), Langlade, Lincoln (up), Oneida (up), Pepin (up), Sawyer, Shawano, Taylor, Vernon, Vilas (up)
Low: Ashland, Bayfield, Price, Richland, Rusk, Washburn