DHS: COVID-19 Cases Continue To Decline In Wisconsin

New reports of COVID-19 cases are continuing to decline in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.

DHS reported 191 new cases of the disease Thursday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 144 daily cases. One week ago, the average was 241 daily cases. New cases for Friday were not reported at the time of publication.

As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continue to decline, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.

A total of 5,216,241 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Friday, with 80 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up having completed the vaccination series. According to DHS, 21 percent of the state’s 12- to 15-year-olds have had their first doses of vaccine and 1 percent have received their second. That age group became eligible May 13.

As of Friday, 2,475,509 people in Wisconsin, or 43 percent of the population, have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or two weeks after Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 7,150 people in Wisconsin. There were four new deaths from COVID-19 reported Thursday.

Other DHS data from Thursday include:

• 610,740 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
• 194 people were in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
• Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though preliminary statistics show 10,482 people were tested Thursday.

Coronavirus rates vary from county to county. In order to track COVID-19 activity levels, DHS looks at the number of new cases per a county’s population over a 14-day period — and whether there’s an upward or downward trend in new cases. Activity levels range from “very high,” “high,” “medium,” to “low.”

As of Wednesday, DHS data showed the state had no counties with a “very high” level, while the majority of Wisconsin counties had “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in one county and shrinking trajectories in 12. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “medium.”

For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.

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