DHS: 10,219 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Wisconsin

There are 10,219 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Sunday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 280 cases from the day before.

According to health officials, 400 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Sunday afternoon, with Calumet County reporting its first death.

DHS reported 105,163 negative tests for the new coronavirus, an increase of 3,228 from Saturday to Sunday.

According to DHS, 1,820 people have been hospitalized because of the virus. That means at least 18 percent of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the state have been hospitalized. DHS officials have said they don’t know the hospitalization history of 2,423 cases, or 24 percent.

A key metric outlined in Gov. Tony Evers’ “Badger Bounce Back” plan for reopening the state is for the percentage of positive cases to be in decline over a 14-day period. According to state data, 8 percent were positive Wednesday, 5.7 percent were positive Thursday, 8.1 percent were positive Friday, 7 percent were positive Saturday, and 8 percent were positive Sunday.

On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released an additional list of metrics the agency will use to “determine when we can begin to allow people to interact and, more importantly, get Wisconsinites back to work.”

The metrics include “gating criteria” for reported symptoms, cases, hospital capacity and infection rates among health care workers. Symptoms criteria are met when influenza-like symptoms and COVID-19-like cases show a downward trend during a 14-day period.

The criteria for hospitals will be met if 95 percent of institutions affirm they have the ability to test all symptomatic clinical staff and can treat all patients without crisis care, according to DHS.

A downward trend of COVID-19 cases among health care workers is the final metric listed by DHS.

With the recent increases in testing capacity, health officials have loosened restrictions on who can get tested, subject to the availability of testing supplies.

On Wednesday, ​Evers announced a new online map to make it easier for people to find testing sites throughout the state. The map shows testing locations, provides contact information, hours of operation and guidance on how to schedule an appointment.

The release of the map comes days after Evers announced the state’s plan to make Wisconsin one of the top states in testing per capita. Evers said Wisconsin is preparing to provide 85,000 COVID-19 tests per week.

This will be done by working with the Wisconsin National Guard to deploy teams to employer outbreak sites; providing free testing and diagnostics to Wisconsin’s 373 nursing homes; increasing the number of free drive-thru testing sites; and providing more supplies to health care systems so people who want a test can have one, Evers said.

As of Saturday afternoon, Wisconsin has 51 labs performing COVID-19 tests, up from eight labs in March. According to DHS, they’re able to process 13,797 samples per day — more than the state’s goal of completing about 12,000 tests per day.

There are confirmed cases in 68 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.

The following counties have no confirmed cases as of Sunday afternoon: Burnett, Langlade, Pepin and Taylor.