This story has been updated to reflect an increase in positive cases in Dane County.
Wisconsin now has 4,539 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 231 have died, according to state and county health data.
About 27 percent of those who test positive, 1,211 people so far, have required hospitalization. There are currently 406 people in the hospital, up from 361 on Friday.
Dane County reported a sudden jump of 17 positive cases between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm today, a stark contrast to the single-digit increases the county has seen over the past week. A Public Health Madison & Dane County representative said some of the cases were related, but did not provide further detail.
The new numbers come as Governor Tony Evers announced the “Badger Bounce Back” plan, a three-phase program to allow businesses to reopen and people to get back to work and social life.
The first phase would allow gatherings of up to 10 people, restaurants to reopen with distancing requirements in place, and schools and daycare centers to reopen. The second phase would allow gatherings of up to 50, full operations of restaurants, and opening of retail establishments with some distancing requirements. The third phase would be to resume full business operations statewide.
There is no timeline for when each phase would begin, though the criteria to move into the first phase is based on White House guidelines — namely, a decrease in people showing COVID19 symptoms and testing positive for 14 consecutive days, as well as “robust testing programs for at-risk healthcare workers.”
A press release announcing the plan said Wisconsin has not yet met those criteria.
Gov. Tony Evers said testing will be a key part of the Badger Bounce Back plan, and that the state now has a goal to test 12,000 people every day — almost ten times as many as have been tested daily to this point.
