Public Health of Madison and Dane County reported 128 new COVID cases today, bringing the county’s cumulative total to 39,049. Of today’s 128 cases reported, 56 — about 43 percent — are aged 18-22. As of this morning, those aged 18-22 account for 23 percent of all cases in Dane County, but 25 percent of all tests since the pandemic began. There is no further information of how many of today’s new cases are from the UW campus.
Public Health Madison and Dane County new emergency order also went into effect this week. Order #13 loosens restrictions on gatherings, sports and other activities.
Under the new order, indoor gatherings are limited to 25 people if there is food or beverages served, or 50 if there isn’t. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 100 people if there is food or beverages served, or 150 if there isn’t. In any case, physical distancing of six feet and face coverings are required.
Additionally, all sports are now allowed, with the restriction that face coverings are required in most situations, and participants must maintain six feet of separation when not actively participating. In teams sports where physical distancing is impossible, indoor sports are limited to 25 people and outdoor sports are limited to 100.
For the past seven days, Dane County has averaged 20.4 cases per day per 100,000 residents.
The area’s current recovered case count is now at 37,278 while active cases dropped to 1,354, or three percent of current cases, according to DHS’ update at 2 pm yesterday. Out of all cases in Dane County, about 51 percent were in Madison while 48 percent have been outside of Madison.
There was a slight increase in hospitalizations this morning with 56 people currently hospitalized for COVID-19. This includes people who reside in and out of Dane County. Of the 56 people currently hospitalized, 18 are in the ICU.
Dane County’s total death toll from COVID-19 remained at 265 this morning. There are now a total of 40 deaths reported for the month of January. December of 2020 still remains the deadliest month for the county with a total of 87 deaths from COVID-19.
Testing has increased as UW students have returned and the campus is requiring regular testing of all students. This could lead to an increase in total positive cases, as well as a decrease in positive test rate. According to preliminary data of all tests, the County is 6,560 averaging tests per day for the past seven days.
As of yesterday’s dashboard update on UW’s website, UW is averaging 5,014.6 tests a day for the past seven days for on-campus testing with an average of 43.6 cases per day for the same time from in both in and off campus testing. For the past seven days, cases have grown for UW students and staff about 28.7 percent while testing on campus has increased by 3.1 percent. The positivity rate for on campus testing for staff and students remains at 0.8 percent for the past seven days. Since January 28, a total of 252 UW students and staff have tested positive out of more than 33,000 tests – an increase from the week of January 21 when there a total of 135 positive tests for UW staff and students.
For Dane County, the 14-day positive test rate as of February 7 remains at 1.8 while the seven-day rate also remains at 1.8. These rates do not include preliminary data from the past four days as that data continues to adjust as more tests are attributed.
For Dane County residents, the number of people ever hospitalized for COVID-19 has grown to 1,192.
More comprehensive data for vaccinations was unveiled on Friday morning as part of the PHMDC’s Data Dashboard. The data, to be updated every Wednesday and Friday per week, breaks down vaccinations in Dane County by age, and now by race and ethnicity. The data is retrieved from the Wisconsin Immunization Registry for all adults and children within the state. The release and the information on the dashboard does warn that some of this information may be incorrect or incomplete as the data is not updated as soon as someone is vaccinated or double checked as consistently as other data gathered.
In total, about 71,854 people have received at least one dose of vaccine — 13.1 percent of all Dane County residents — while 26,946, 4.9 percent of all residents, have completed both doses. Of those 71,854 residents, 43.7 percent are 65 and older while those aged 25-34 follow with 14.8 percent. Vaccination data broken down by age range for those from 16 – 65+. No data for children is available as the vaccinations have not yet been approved for those under 15.
From all those who have been vaccinated, 2.4 percent are Hispanic or Latino. Hispanic/Latinx people make up seven percent of the county and are underrepresented in those being vaccinated. Black people, who make up about six percent of the population, only make up 2.6 percent of those who’ve received at least one dose of vaccine. Asian people, who make up 6 percent of the county population, only make up 2.9 percent of those who have received at least one vaccination. Those who are American Indian/Alaskan Native and are .3 percent of the population are .5 percent of those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Madison365 has updated our weekly map of COVID-19 cases in the county by census tract.
We will have an update later this afternoon for statewide numbers after 3 pm.
