Wisconsin reports 1,078 COVID-19 cases, 1 new death
Wisconsin added one more COVID-19 death to its total, a day into the new year.
At 4,870 COVID-19 deaths as of Saturday, the state is still behind a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which predicted Wisconsin would pass 5,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of 2020.
● New cases reported: 1,078
● New deaths reported: 1
● Number hospitalized (as of Friday): 1,010 (intensive care: 227); down 817 patients from one month ago
● Seven-day average of daily cases: 2,222 (down 1,442 cases from one month ago)
● Seven-day average of daily deaths: 27 (down 19 from one month ago)
● The average positivity rate — first-time positive tests over the last seven days — was 30.7% Saturday.
● Total cases since the start of pandemic: 484,085 (26,577 active cases)
● Total deaths: 4,870
Key takeaways
Authorities are still investigating a Milwaukee-area pharmacist who admitted to intentionally ruining 500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Grafton police said they arrested the pharmacist Thursday on suspicion of criminal damage to property and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. While police did not release the pharmacist’s name, jail records indicated Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton, was booked on suspicion of similar charges. State records show Brandenburg has been a licensed pharmacist since 1997.
When 57 vials of the vaccine were found outside of the refrigerator the day after Christmas at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, hospital administrators believed they were left out due to human error. But an investigation resulted in the pharmacist revealing he left them out on purpose.
Fifty-seven people were given vaccines from the tampered vials, according to Advocate Aurora Health.
As of Tuesday, 47,157 people received a coronavirus vaccine in Wisconsin. About 6,300 of those vaccines were from Moderna.