More Than A Quarter Of Wisconsinites Have Been Vaccinated For COVID-19

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

DHS reported 929 new cases of the disease on Wednesday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 823 daily cases. One week ago, the average was 657 daily cases. Although new cases are still well below their fall peak, the seven-day average has been increasing since mid-March.

There were 4,876 negative tests reported Wednesday.

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

A total of 3,617,906 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Wednesday, with 70.5 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, 1,467,815 people in Wisconsin, or 25.2 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 6,695 people in Wisconsin. There were five new deaths from COVID-19 reported Wednesday.

Other DHS data from Wednesday include:

• 587,561 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
• 3,371,291 total tests administered, 2,783,730 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
• 28,337 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 5,805 new test results were reported Wednesday.

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 a “critically high” level of COVID-19 activity. One county — St. Croix — has a “very high” level, and the majority of Wisconsin counties have “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in 15 counties, and shrinking trajectories in two. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”

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

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