There are 7,964 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Sunday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 304 cases from the day before.
According to health officials, 339 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Sunday afternoon.
DHS reported 77,997 negative tests for the new coronavirus, an increase of 2,427 from Friday to Saturday.
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DHS reports 1,608 people have been hospitalized because of the virus. That means at least 20 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 1,774 cases, or 22 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, 12.7 percent of tests were positive on Friday, 10.3 percent were positive on Saturday and 11.1 percent were positive Sunday.
With the recent increases in testing capacity, health officials have loosened restrictions on who can get tested, subject to the availability of testing supplies.
As of Sunday afternoon, Wisconsin has 51 labs performing COVID-19 tests, up from eight labs in March. According to DHS, they’re able to process 11,347 samples per day. The state has a goal of completing about 12,000 tests per day, DHS Secretary Andrea Palm said Monday.
According to a press release, the State Emergency Operations Center, DHS, Wisconsin Emergency Management and Wisconsin National Guard are working with local health departments to hold community testing events in places with a known lack of access to testing or where additional testing is needed. The Wisconsin National Guard tested almost 200 people at a drive-thru testing site at the Buffalo County Highway stop in Alma. More testing sites were announced Sunday in northwest Wisconsin including Barron, Eau Claire, Polk, Washburn and Ashland counties.
There are confirmed cases in 67 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
The following counties have no confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon: Burnett, Forest, Langlade, Pepin and Taylor.
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