For the second straight day, Wisconsin set a record for the number of new coronavirus cases being confirmed, as 686 new cases brought the total to 17,211. Yesterday, exactly two weeks after the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order, 642 positive cases were identified.
The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive fell slightly from 5.8 percent to 4.8 percent.
Additionally, 11 people succumbed to COVID19 since this time Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 550. Five of those were in Racine County, which remains in the grips of a rapidly spreading outbreak.
The largest local increase in new cases today comes from Milwaukee County, with 334 new cases and just over 25 percent of tests coming back positive.
Racine County saw fewer positive cases today, 26, with four percent of tests coming back positive. That’s a marked improvement from yesterday, when 184 new cases were identified there, with nearly 15 percent of tests returning positive results.
Kenosha County also saw an uptick in new cases after a few days of lower numbers; 20 percent of tests today came back positive, adding 55 new cases.
Similarly, a smaller outbreak seems to be taking shape in Dane County, which shows 31 new cases today, and 92 over the past week. The county’s positive test rate remains low at about four percent, but the county has consistently seen single-digit daily case increases and positive tests rates of one percent or lower.
Dane County began its first phase of “reopening” Tuesday.
Hospitalizations are down slightly from yesterday, but remains higher than in recent days, as 408 people are hospitalized.Of those currently hospitalized, 138 require intensive care. Additionally, 250 people are hospitalized and awaiting test results.
The rate of disparity in Latino populations continues to stand out — 33 percent of total cases are now Latino people, and 35 percent of today’s new cases. Latinos make up just seven percent of the state’s overall population.
Similarly, 19 percent of all cases are Black people, who also make up 26 percent of deaths. Black people make up just six percent of the state’s population.
DHS also reports that 61 percent of those confirmed to have been infected have recovered and 3.3 percent have died, leaving about 6,000 active, confirmed infections in the state.
