DHS: 9,215 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Wisconsin

There are 9,215 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 314 cases from the day before.

According to health officials, 374 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon.

DHS reported 93,035 negative tests for the new coronavirus, an increase of 5,209 from Wednesday to Thursday.

According to DHS, 1,732 people have been hospitalized because of the virus. That means at least 19 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 2,036 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, 9.9 percent were positive Monday, 8.6 percent were positive Tuesday, 8 percent were positive Wednesday and 5.7 percent were positive Thursday.

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.

“We’ve made great progress in expanding our testing capacity these last few weeks, and now we’re taking the next step to help connect Wisconsinites who have symptoms of COVID-19 to testing sites in their communities,” Evers said in a statement. “Everyone in the state who needs a test should be tested, and through the Badger Bounce Back Plan, we’re taking a comprehensive approach to make sure that’s the case.”

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 Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin has 51 labs performing COVID-19 tests, up from eight labs in March. According to DHS, they’re able to process 14,797 samples per day — more than the state’s goal of completing about 12,000 tests per day.

DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said during a Tuesday briefing that Wisconsin is among the top five states in terms of testing capacity.

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

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