More people hospitalized with COVID-19 than ever

The Wisconsin Hospital Association has announced a grim milestone: More people are hospitalized with COVID-19 than ever before.

The WHA reported Wednesday that 2,278 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, topping the previous record by one patient, set in November 2020.

The rise in hospitalizations comes amid the omicron variant surge, which has also stretched hospital systems thin.

On any given day, several hundred staff members in the Advocate Aurora Health system are out with COVID-19, according to a leader.

The omicron surge continues to cause critical staffing shortages at the health system, said Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention at Advocate Aurora.

Compounding the issue, a record 1,700 patients are hospitalized with the virus at Advocate Aurora locations in Wisconsin and Illinois, Citronberg said at a news conference Wednesday.

“We are starting to see a leveling off of the growth of cases in our hospitals, but we are still at a level where we are caring for many people,” he said.

Many experts hope that the steep, rapid rise in omicron cases will be followed by a quick decline. Citronberg echoed that thinking while acknowledging hospitals’ current reality.

“We’re filled with COVID patients,” he said. “We are doing everything possible to continue normal operations during this time and hopeful that the surge will end soon.”

Advocate Aurora has previously said that the vast majority of their hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated or due for a booster shot.

About 75% of the patients have not received any doses of the vaccine, Citronberg said.

Latest COVID-19 numbers

● New cases reported: 10,277

● New deaths reported, confirmed: 25

● New deaths reported, probable: 7

● Number hospitalized: 2,278 (intensive care: 488); up 564 patients from a month ago

● Seven-day average of daily cases: 9,675 (up 6,196 cases from one month ago)

Seven-day average of confirmed daily deaths: 30

● Seven-day average of new deaths reported within 30 days of death: 24 (up three deaths from a month ago)

● Seven-day average positivity rate: 27.6% of all COVID-19 tests given

● Total cases since the start of pandemic: 1,103,372

● Total confirmed deaths: 10,407 Total probable deaths: 1,152

Latest vaccine numbers

● Total doses administered:

8,799,183

● Daily doses administered: 12,793 Seven-day average of daily doses: 16,522

● Total booster doses administered: 1,733,763

● Daily booster doses administered: 8,292

● Seven-day average of daily booster doses: 10,933

● Residents who have received one dose: 3,651,690 (62.6% of the population)

● Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,416,838 (58.6% of the population)

● Residents ages 5 to 11 with at least one dose: 110,845 (22.7% of age group)

● Residents ages 12 to 17 with at least one dose: 258,353 (58.1% of age group)

● Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 313,338 (57.5% of age group)

● Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 458,931 (61.9% of age group)

● Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 488,365 (67.6% of age group)

● Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 492,087 (70.4% of age group)

● Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 633,261 (77.2% of age group)

● Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 896,493 (85.5% of age group)

Variant case sequencing

State and private labs regularly do further tests on a portion of positive COVID-19 samples to find the prevalence of different variants of the virus. The numbers below are just a fraction of the total number of variant cases.

Delta variant was identified in 17.3% of tests sequenced during the week starting Dec. 27.

Omicron variant was identified in 82.7% of tests sequenced during the week starting Dec. 27.