Home covid PHMDC reports 8 new deaths, 33 new cases

PHMDC reports 8 new deaths, 33 new cases

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Public Health of Madison and Dane County reported 33 new COVID cases today, bringing the county’s cumulative total to 38,826.

However, despite the low case count, eight deaths were reported this morning: three in February and five attributed to January, bringing that month’s total to 40. Of the eight deaths, one person was in their 40s, one person in their 60s, one person in their 70s, one person in their 80s and four in their 90s. About 84 percent of all deaths have occurred in those 70 and older since the pandemic began.

This comes a day after PHMDC unveiled their new emergency order which 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 21.0 cases per day per 100,000 residents – a decrease from yesterday’s 21.5.

The area’s current recovered case count is now at 37,075 while active cases dropped to 1,427, or four 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 an increase in hospitalizations this morning with 68 people currently hospitalized for COVID-19. This includes people who reside in and out of Dane County. Of the 68 people currently hospitalized, 169 are in the ICU.

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 averaging 6,109 tests per day for the past seven days.

As of yesterday’s dashboard update on UW’s website, UW is averaging 4,521 tests a day for the past seven days for on-campus testing with an average of 42.1 positive 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 52.8 percent while testing on campus has decreased by 1.6 percent. The positivity rate for on campus testing for staff and students remains at 0.9 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 5 has dropped to 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 1,180.

More comprehensive data for vaccinations was unveiled on last 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 62,505 people have received at least one dose of vaccine — 11.4 percent of all Dane County residents — while 21,288, 3.9 percent of all residents, have completed both doses. Of those 62,505 residents, 38.2 percent are 65 and older while those aged 25-34 follow with 16.4 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, 2.5 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 3 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.