Coronavirus high
The state reported a record 754 positive cases on Thursday.
Wisconsin’s health department reported 754 new coronavirus cases Thursday, setting a new record for positive tests on a single day.
The previous record was set on July 4, with 738 new cases.
Infections in Wisconsin are surging. State leaders said last week that 20% of the state’s total COVID-19 cases had been reported in the previous two weeks. The seven-day rolling average of new infections has risen from under 300 in mid-June to 595 as of Thursday – the highest since the pandemic began – according to Department of Health Services data.
Thursday’s cases accounted for about 5.7% of the 13,158 tests run since the day prior, a percent positive rate that has remained fairly stable in the last three days, after jumping to nearly 11% on July 4.
Eight hundred and nine Wisconsinites have now died from the virus, an increase of two from Wednesday.
Hospitalizations again rose slightly Thursday: According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, 284 people across the state were hospitalized with COVID-19, 76 of them in the intensive care unit. There were 168 inpatients awaiting the results of a coronavirus test.
As cases rise, so has the demand for testing, triggering wait times of up to four hours at free testing sites offered by the Wisconsin National Guard.
DHS interim health officer Stephanie Smiley and Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, who leads the National Guard, announced a new online registration system that aims to cut down on wait times at free testing sites and make it easier for contact tracers to do their job following a positive test.
Called COVID Connect, the system will allow a person to register from their phone and will securely collect employment information, current symptoms and a contact number for a tracer to use to get in touch later, Smiley said. The information will be connected with the person’s subsequent specimen and entered into the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System.
Piloted several days earlier at the Alliant Energy Center testing site in Madison, Smiley said she hopes the registration system will be available for all Guard-run testing sites in the state in the next week. Knapp said wait times at the Madison site on Thursday appeared to be just one hour.
State officials continue to ask that people avoid large gatherings that can trigger the spread of the virus. Such was the case in Ashland, where a private hockey tournament held in late June has led to at least 13 infections, the Ashland Daily Press reported Thursday.
The tournament brought in visitors from Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Daily Press reported. Only one local resident has tested positive but local officials expect that number to grow.
Multiple businesses in the area have closed due to possible exposure, medical providers are strained on testing supplies and the resources required to perform contact tracing are “enormous,”
the Ashland County health department said in a Facebook post.
“This information is shared to inform local residents about the effects that one event can have on our community,” the department said.
The city of Ashland is part of both Ashland and Bayfield counties, which were two of the remaining six Wisconsin counties that had “low” virus activity levels as of the state’s latest weekly activity rankings.
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