7-day average of new COVID-19 cases exceeds 1.2K per day

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 infections in Wisconsin is the highest since late January, state data shows.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 1,206 new daily cases Friday, bringing the seven-day average of new cases to 1,021. That’s the highest figure since January 30.

DHS reported one new death from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease in Wisconsin to 7,448.

All counties in Wisconsin are experiencing high activity of coronavirus cases according to DHS. Between July 21 and August 3, seven counties reported COVID-19 positive rates greater than 10% of those tested. Chippewa County had the highest rate during this period, at 13%.

Dr Nasia Safdar, director of infection control at UW Hospital and UW Clinics in Madison, told WPR that the number of cases in the local community had “climbed quite astronomically.”

“This is reflected in the number of positive results we are seeing in our outpatient population, ”said Safdar. “This is reflected in the number of infections that we are seeing in healthcare workers, I would say a slight increase in hospitalizations, but not to a level where… we have already seen it by any means.”

On Tuesday, DHS reported 263 hospitalizations, 7% of these patients being placed on a ventilator. The number of hospitalizations is the highest since May 24, but far lower than it was at its peak on November 20, 2020, when the agency reported 2,155 COVID-19 patients.

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Safdar said she and her colleagues are waiting to see if there is an increase in new hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the Madison area. She said she hopes they don’t because of the high vaccination rates in Dane County.

DHS reports that 2,890,511 people – or 49.6% of Wisconsin’s population – were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Dane County has the highest vaccination rate at 67.8%. Taylor County in north-central Wisconsin has the lowest vaccination rate at 27.3%.

Safdar said people, including some healthcare workers who have been vaccinated, are suffering from so-called breakthrough infections. She attributes this to the more transmissible delta variant of the disease. But she said symptoms in vaccinated people with breakthrough infections “are relatively mild.”

“And people who aren’t vaccinated shouldn’t think the vaccine isn’t working because people get infections, ”Safdar said. “It’s a very different syndrome.