82 deaths reported; 8.4 million doses of vaccine delivered

MADISON, Wisconsin (WBAY) – Counties in Wisconsin have submitted more than 80 reports of COVID-19 deaths to state health officials in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from COVID-19 at 9,765. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reports that 50 of the people have died in the past 30 days, bringing the 7-day COVID-19 average to 29 deaths per day. If you counted all death certificates, we calculate that the average would be 48 deaths, the highest 7-day average since Christmas Day 2020. The death rate is 1.03% of all cases, after to have gone from 1.02%; this is the first time since July 6 that the death rate has increased and held steady for a second day.

Brown County has crossed 300 deaths with 5 other reports. The other counties reporting deaths were Waupaca with 3; Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac and Oconto with two each; and Manitowoc, Shawano and Sheboygan each reported 1. The Manitowoc County Health Department said COVID-19 was the cause of one-third of deaths in the county from December 1 to 20, saying: “Most of these deaths were preventable, with the vast majority of deaths among those not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “

DHS reported on Tuesday that there were 4,001 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the latest test results, slightly increasing the 7-day average from 3,294 to 3,315 cases per day. The positivity rate has also increased slightly, with 11.9% of all COVID-19 tests positive for the virus in the past 7 days. Fond du Lac County has exceeded 25,000 cases and Oconto County has 7,000.

We calculate that the 7-day average for hospitalizations is 163 per day after an additional 211 people have been admitted for COVID-19 treatment in the past 24 hours. Taking into account departures and deaths, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reported a drop in patient numbers on Tuesday: There are 1,653 COVID-19 patients, including 418 in intensive care, or 6 fewer intensive care patients and 7 fewer statewide.

Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals have 133 patients, up 7 since yesterday; 22 of them are in intensive care, or 5 fewer. The 10 hospitals in the Northeast Health Region have 178 COVID-19 patients, including 34 in intensive care; it’s 1 more in intensive care and 1 more in general since Monday. Fox Valley hospitals had 126 patients, including 27 in intensive care.

Fox Valley hospitals report that they do not have intensive care or intermediate care beds and only one medico-surgical surgery bed among them. The hospitals in the North-East are a little better off, with 8 beds in intensive care, 2 in intermediate care and 7 medico-surgical beds available. (These are beds for all patients, not just for COVID-19 treatment.) As we reported, Bellin Hospital in Green Bay is receiving help from 20 Navy medical personnel to cope to an overwhelming number of patients and not enough staff to treat them (see related story).

The worry is now the omicron variant, which doctors say is as contagious as the common cold, except it is a virus that is the third leading cause of death in Wisconsin (behind heart disease and cancer, which are not contagious). Worse yet, people infected with the omicron variant may be re-infected more easily than with other COVID-19 mutations, which means people cannot claim to be immune when recovering from infection.

The good news is that existing vaccines appear to offer protection against COVID-19 infections from omicron, especially with booster shots to keep the immune system tuned and ready.

Wisconsin has surpassed 8.4 million doses (8,401,287) of vaccines given to residents of the state and outside, such as people who work here. This includes nearly 1.5 million (1,457,868) recalls.

DHS says 57.8% of the state’s entire population has received a full set of COVID-19 vaccines, or 3,373,929 people. That is on 61.5% of the population, or 3,587,257 people, who have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far. More than one in 8 Wisconsin children aged 5 to 11 have been fully immunized since their age group became eligible on November 9.

TUESDAY VACCINATIONS BY AGE GROUP (and change since last report)

• 5 to 11: 19.4% received the vaccine (+0.2) / 13.0% were vaccinated (+0.3)
• 12 to 17: 56.3% received the vaccine (+0.1) / 51.6% completed the vaccines (+0.1)
• 18 to 24: 56.0% received the vaccine (+0.0) / 51.2% completed the vaccines (+0.1)
• 25 to 34: 60.7% received the vaccine (+0.1) / 56.3% completed the vaccinations (+0.0)
• 35 to 44: 66.6% received the vaccine (+0.0) / 63.1% completed the vaccinations (+0.0)
• 45 to 54: 69.5% received the vaccine (+0.0) / 66.5% completed the vaccinations (+0.0)
• 55 to 64: 76.5% received the vaccine (+0.0) / 73.8% completed the vaccinations (+0.0)
• 65 years and over: 85.3% received the vaccine (+0.1) / 82.1% completed the vaccines (+0.1)

TUESDAY VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY POPULATION (and change since last report)

To find free COVID-19 vaccination sites near you, text your postal code to 438829.

CASE AND DEATH RATE IN MARDI COUNTY (bold characters indicates a change in cases or deaths since the last report) **

• Brown – 48,426 cases (+163) (303 deaths) (+5)
• Calumet – 8,516 cases (+35) (75 deaths) (+2)
• Dickinson (Mich.) * – 3,596 cases 74 deaths
• Dodge – 17,660 crates (+39) (219 deaths)
• Porte – 4,272 cases (+15) (41 deaths) (+2)
• Florence – 615 cases (+5) (14 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 20,025 cases (+57) (177 deaths) (+2)
• Forest – 1722 cases (+6) (36 deaths)
• Gogebic (Mich.) * – 1,860 cases (33 deaths)
• Lac Vert – 2,980 cases (+24) (36 deaths)
• Iron (Michigan) * – 1,645 cases (57 deaths)
• Kewaunee – 3,493 cases (+7) (35 deaths)
• Langlade – 3,523 cases (+6) (48 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 12,271 cases (+121) (107 deaths) (+1)
• Marinette – 7,235 cases (+43) (81 deaths)
• Menominee (Mich.) * – 3,030 cases (52 deaths)
• Menominee – 1,009 cases (11 deaths)
• Oconto – 7,000 cases (+50) (70 deaths) (+2)
• Outagamy – 30,302 cases (+41) (273 deaths)
• Shawano – 7,131 cases (+36) (89 deaths) (+1)
• Sheboygan – 20,583 cases (+128) (182 deaths) (+1)
• Waupaca – 8,204 cases (+33) (163 deaths) (+3)
• Waushara – 3,536 cases (+9) (57 deaths)
• Winnebago – 28,408 cases (+44) (271 deaths)

* You can find cases and deaths for all 72 counties in Wisconsin on the DHS County Data Website. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Hospital Association issue updates Monday through Friday. The Michigan Department of Health updates the information on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

** Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The Wisconsin DHS reports cases of all health departments within a county, including tribal, municipal, and county health departments; county websites cannot. Additionally, public health departments update their data at different times, while DHS freezes the numbers it receives at the same time each day to compile the afternoon report.

Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.