There are 6,289 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, the state Department of Health Services announced Tuesday. That’s an increase of 208 cases from the day before.
Over the weekend, Saturday marked the largest single-day increase in positive cases the state has seen since the outbreak began.
According to figures from DHS, 300 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon.
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DHS reports 1,456 people have been hospitalized because of the virus. That means at least 23 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 19 percent of cases.
As of Tuesday, 3,029 Wisconsinites had recovered from COVID-19, according to DHS data.
Across the state, 63,535 people have tested negative for the virus so far. From Monday to Tuesday, the number of negative test results increased by 2,224.
Brown County has seen a surge in positive tests after health officials traced hundreds of cases to meatpacking facilities there. As of Tuesday afternoon, Brown County had 920 positive cases of the new coronavirus — an increase of 67 cases from Monday.
It was announced Sunday that JBS Packerland, a meatpacking plant in Green Bay, Sunday, would be temporarily closing after hundreds of COVID-19 cases were linked to that and other such facilities in the area. Health officials traced at least 255 confirmed cases among employees at JBS Packerland in Green Bay, with 79 linked cases, as of Tuesday. American Foods Group in Green Bay has 145 confirmed cases among employees, with seven linked cases. Salm Partners in Denmark, Wisconsin, had 17 confirmed cases among workers as of April 27.
With recent increases in testing capacity, health officials have loosened restrictions on who can get tested, subject to the availability of testing supplies.
Wisconsin has 48 labs performing COVID-19 tests, up from eight labs in March. According to DHS, they’re able to process nearly 11,000 samples per day. The state has a goal of completing about 12,000 tests per day, DHS Secretary Andrea Palm said Monday.
There are confirmed cases in 66 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
The following counties have no confirmed cases as of Monday afternoon: Burnett, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Pepin and Taylor.
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