After the percentage of coronavirus tests turning up positive results rose sharply to eight percent Wednesday, the daily rate fell back to five percent as a single-day record of more than 9,400 test results were reported. Of those, 393 were positive.
The State Department of Health Services reported 472 new cases from 2 pm Wednesday to 2 pm Thursday, which included Milwaukee County’s 2:30 pm update from Wednesday. A much smaller increase in Milwaukee County reported at 2:30 pm Thursday — 75 new cases, down from 210 Wednesday — puts the 24-hour increase from 13,574 at 2:30 Wednesday to 13,967 at 2:30 Wednesday — a jump of 393 new confirmed cases.
Six fatalities were reported Tuesday, bringing the state’s total death toll to 487.
The largest local increase in new cases today come from Racine County, with 105 new cases and 12 percent of tests coming back positive. The outbreak in Brown County seems to remain under control — 59 more cases were identified but just less than five percent of tests came back positive. An outbreak at a meat packing plant in Green Bay has significantly increased the number of positive cases in Brown County, which have now reached 2,177 in the county. That’s a rate of 838 cases per 100,000 residents — far higher than the second-highest rate, 597 in Racine County.
A hotspot in Kenosha County seems to have cooled off, at least for the past couple of days. Today the county reported 55 new cases but just over seven percent of tests came back positive.
Rock County also reported 55 new cases as more than 19 percent of tests came back positive.
Dane County has kept its positive test rate below three percent, but has seen an increase of 83 cases in just over a week — from 500 to 583 — largely due to outbreaks at assisted living facilities, county health officials said.
Hospitalizations have been on the rise over the past week but remained steady Thursday, as 399 people are currently hospitalized with coronavirus infection. Of those currently hospitalized, 127 require intensive care. Additionally, 180 people are hospitalized awaiting test results.
The rate of disparity in Latino populations continues to stand out — 31 percent of total cases are now Latino people. Latinos make up just seven percent of the state’s overall population.
Similarly, 20 percent of all cases are Black people, who also make up just under 30 percent of deaths. Black people make up just six percent of the state’s population.
DHS also reports that 58 percent of those confirmed to have been infected have recovered and 4 percent have died, leaving about 5,300 active, confirmed infections in the state.
