There are 14,877 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Saturday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 481 cases from the day before.
According to health officials, 507 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon.
DHS reported 179,329 negative tests for the new coronavirus, an increase of 6,626 from Friday to Saturday.
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As of Saturday, 58 percent of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered, according to DHS.
Wisconsin’s daily testing capacity has grown from 120 available lab tests in early March to 14,153 as of Friday. The surge in new tests is one reason for the increase in positive cases. The percentage of positive tests went from 8 percent Wednesday, down to 5 percent Thursday, rose slightly to 5.1 percent Friday, and rose to 6.8 percent Saturday.
On Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers unveiled his plan for spending $1 billion in federal funds to combat COVID-19 in Wisconsin. The money will be used to pay for contact tracing, ongoing efforts to test people for the virus, and preparing for a potential surge.
Evers’ “Badger Bounce Back” plan no longer has the force of law following a state Supreme Court ruling last week, but the state’s dashboard for the reopening plan shows Wisconsin has met key gating criteria, including 95 percent of hospitals being able to treat all patients without crisis standards of care and 95 percent of hospitals claiming they have arranged to test all symptomatic staff treating patients.
However, the percentage of positive tests is no longer on a downward trajectory over a 14-day period. There also is no 14-day downward trajectory in flu-like illnesses or in COVID-like illnesses, nor is there a downward trend of COVID-19 cases among health care workers, calculated weekly.
Wisconsin’s criteria for reopening were largely based on federal recommendations.
According to DHS, 2,292 people have been hospitalized because of the virus as of Saturday. That means at least 15 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 4,112 people, or 28 percent.
There are confirmed cases in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties.
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