New reports of COVID-19 cases are continuing to decline in Wisconsin, though deaths are on the rise, based on the latest data published by the state Department of Health Services.
DHS reported 485 new cases of the disease Thursday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 465 daily cases. One week ago, the average was 606 daily cases. Daily new cases have been declining since a mid-April spike when they reached over 800 per day on average.
There were 4,563 negative tests reported Thursday.
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As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continue to decline, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.
A total of 4,782,698 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Friday, with 77.6 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated.
As of Thursday, 2,239,412 people in Wisconsin, or 38.5 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 6,953 people in Wisconsin. There were 18 new deaths from COVID-19 reported Thursday.
Other DHS data from Thursday include:
- 604,863 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
- 3,499,623 total tests administered, 2,894,760 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
- 30,059 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 5 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
- Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 5,048 new test results were reported 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 two counties — Polk and St. Croix — with a “very high” level, while the majority of Wisconsin counties had “high” levels of activity. There was a growing case trajectory in Crawford County and shrinking trajectories in seven counties. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”
For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.
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