DHS: Percentage Of Positive COVID-19 Tests Increases To 3.8 Percent After Friday Decline

There have been 24,539 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Saturday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 385 cases from the day before.

According to health officials, 744 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon, with 14 new deaths reported since Friday.

DHS reported 454,563 total negative tests for the coronavirus, an increase of 9,812 from Friday to Saturday.

As of Saturday, 77 percent of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered, according to DHS. Three percent have died.

Wisconsin’s daily testing capacity — based on the availability of test supplies and adequate staffing — has grown from 120 available lab tests in early March to 17,668 as of Saturday. The number of actual tests reported on Saturday was 9,812.

An increase in testing is one reason for the increase in the number of positive cases. The percentage of positive tests was 3.8 percent on Saturday — up from 2.5 percent the day before.

As of Friday, Wisconsin was seeing a 14-day downward trajectory in reports of COVID-like cases, but the department is no longer reporting a downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period.

According to DHS, 3,203 people have been hospitalized because of the virus as of Saturday. That means at least 13 percent of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the state have been hospitalized. DHS officials said they don’t know the hospitalization history of 6,918 people, or 29 percent.

There have been confirmed cases in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties, though not all cases are currently active. As of Saturday, the DHS is reporting that Milwaukee County has now had 10,167 recorded cases.

State Announces COVID-19 Studies

State officials announced plans for two population health studies related to COVID-19 Wednesday. The efforts will “provide researchers and public health experts with a better understanding of where COVID-19 has been and help identify communities that may be at risk for a future outbreaks,” according to a DHS press release.

One study will involve DHS partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) to test for COVID-19 antibodies in people across the state. Antibody testing looks at whether someone has been infected with the coronavirus in the past, whether or not they showed symptoms.

The other study will test sewage samples from wastewater treatment facilities across the state to look at concentrations of virus genetic material. DHS will partner with UW-Milwaukee and the state Department of Natural resources to carry out the testing.