Wisconsin passes 2,000 COVID-19 deaths
Wisconsin officially passed 2,000 COVID-19 deaths Saturday, the same day the state set yet another daily record for new positive cases.
Wisconsin health officials on Saturday reported 59 more people died from COVID-19, bringing the state’s death toll to 2,031.
It took Wisconsin about five months from the beginning of the pandemic in March to hit 1,000 deaths, which happened on Aug. 11, according to the state Department of Health Services. In comparison, the state’s second 1,000 deaths came in about half that time. Around one-third of the state’s total deaths came in October, as more than 700 people were reported to have died from COVID-19 this month.
“Our hearts are with the families and friends of those who have passed away,” the Wisconsin Department of Health Services wrote Saturday on its Facebook page. “We all MUST do our part to stop the spread of this virus by staying home, making only essential trips, wearing a mask when we need to venture out, and by keeping at least six feet of distance between ourselves and others.”
Saturday’s total of 5,278 confirmed infections is slightly higher than the previous record, set Tuesday with 5,262 cases, according to DHS.
The seven-day average of new cases rose again Saturday, hitting 4,404, which is the highest weekly average to date, according to DHS. Wisconsin’s
COVID-19 outbreak is among one of the worst in the nation, behind only North and South Dakota for the most cases reported per capita over a 30-day period.
As of Friday afternoon, 1,546 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, which is 300 more than last week Friday, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Of those patients, 350 are in an intensive care unit. An additional 151 hospitalized patients were waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.
The surge is reaching places that got by relatively unscathed earlier in the year.
For the first several months of the coronavirus pandemic, Wisconsin’s veterans homes in Union Grove, King and Chippewa Falls did not record a positive case among residents and staff.
But as of Friday, the veterans home in the Waupaca County community of King — with around 420 residents and 700 staff, the largest — had seen 17 veterans succumb to COVID-related deaths and a total of 231 positive cases, including 129 to residents in the past few months.
At Union Grove, 10 residents have died out of 59 positive cases, which include 30 veterans. There are 133 veterans and spouses of veterans living at Union Grove, and around 200 staff members.
“Our hearts are with the families and friends of those who have passed away. We all MUST do our part to stop the spread of this virus.”
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
At Chippewa Falls, which has 70 residents and 120 staff, there have been 14 positive coronavirus cases and no deaths.
All three veterans homes closed to visitors in midMarch, and stringent protocols including masks, social distancing, deep cleaning and frequent staff and resident checks were implemented like other nursing homes and facilities in Wisconsin.
Staffing has been difficult since it was a challenge to find enough nurses, nursing assistants and other employees even before the coronavirus outbreak, said Diane Lynch, administrator of the state VA’s Division of Homes. The federal VA system sent additional nurses and nursing assistants from other VA health care facilities in Wisconsin and other states.
Meanwhile, state officials revealed Friday that at least five Wisconsin prisoners have died with COVID-19 as a cause of death or a significant contributing factor.
The state Department of Corrections had long refused to share information about deaths with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other organizations, citing privacy concerns, while many other states have been transparent about deaths in prisons.
Still, the number may not be up to date. Corrections officials only counted deaths for which medical examiners had completed reports — a process that can take weeks. And they only counted deaths in state-run prisons, excluding any deaths in county-run jails.
Corrections spokesman John Beard would not say when or in which facilities the deaths occurred. He also would not say how many inmates have been hospitalized with the virus.
More than 4,000 people in Wisconsin prisons have tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
Organizations concerned about prisoner well-being have called for low-risk inmates to be released for their safety and to ease social distancing for remaining inmates.
“There’s a lot of people that will be released in the next year anyway; they have re-entry plans,” said Peggy West-Schroder, a former county supervisor who works for WISDOM’s Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing. “Let’s get these people out, knowing that’s the only way to save people.”