DHS Reports 875 New COVID-19 Cases, The Most Since Mid-February

The state Department of Health Services has updated its guidance on staying safe during the pandemic to include recommendations for both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people, according to a press release. The guidance also includes recommendations for various spring and summer activities such as graduation parties and farmers markets.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also updated its guidance on travel for fully vaccinated people Friday. According to the CDC website, “People who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine can travel safely within the United States.” The CDC considers someone fully vaccinated two weeks after they receive the last dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, reports of COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by DHS.

DHS reported 875 new cases of the disease Friday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 531 daily cases, the highest it has been since March 3. Friday’s new case total is the highest that figure has been since Feb. 12 when there were 938 new cases.

There were 3,316 negative tests reported Friday.

As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin remain lower than they were at the beginning of the year, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.

A total of 2,978,088 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Friday, with 61.6 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated.

As of Friday, 1,121,306 people in Wisconsin, or 19.3 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.

Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 6,633 people in Wisconsin. There were eight new deaths from COVID-19 reported Friday.

Other DHS data from Friday include:

• 578,587 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
• 3,318,369 total tests administered, 2,739,782 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
• 27,685 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 4.8 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
• Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 4,191 new test results were reported Friday.

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 “critically high,” “very high,” “high,” “medium,” to “low.”

As of Wednesday, DHS data showed the state had no counties with “critically high” or “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity. The majority of Wisconsin counties have “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in eight counties, and shrinking trajectories in four. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”

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

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