State reports 545 new virus cases, a dozen more deaths
The state health department reported 545 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, along with a dozen more deaths.
New cases make up about 6.5% of the 8,376 tests processed since the day before, the lowest percent positive rate since Aug. 25. Of all tests processed over the previous seven days, including preliminary results that had yet to be manually confirmed and included in state summary data, 8.4% were positive.
Over the past seven days, the average number of new cases declared per day stood at 695 — still falling relative to the state’s peak of a seven-day average of more than 900 in late July but higher than averages reported during the first few months of the pandemic.
More than 1.2 million Wisconsinites have now been tested for COVID-19. Of the 77,129 that have tested positive as of Wednesday, about 10% of those cases are still active, meaning the person has not had symptoms subside or left isolation.
One percent of all confirmed cases, or 1,142 people, have died.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 295 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, with 100 of them in the intensive care units.
At least 8% of the state’s total cases have required hospitalization at some point during their infection. In about a third of the cases, the state health department does not know whether the person was hospitalized.
The health department also released updated activity rankings by county, which refresh each Wednesday.
To calculate these rankings, the state combines the total new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks per county, and the percentage change in new cases between the past seven days and the seven days before that.
New rankings are as follows (changes from last week are marked with parentheses):
• High: Adams, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Calumet, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Fond du Lac, Forest, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Crosse, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette, Marquette (up), Menominee (up), Milwaukee, Monroe, Oconto, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Racine, Richland (up), Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Shawano, Sheboygan, St. Croix, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Walworth, Washburn, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood
• Medium: Ashland, Door (down), Grant (down), Lafayette (down), Lincoln, Pepin (down), Price, Rusk