Wisconsin surpasses 3,000 COVID-19 deaths, 350,000 total cases
This electron microscope image made available and color-enhanced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., shows Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, orange, isolated from a patient. University of Hong Kong scientists claim to have the first evidence of someone being reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19. They said Monday, Aug. 24, 2020 that genetic tests show a 33-year-old man returning to Hong Kong from a trip to Spain in mid-August had a different strain of the coronavirus than the one he’d previously been infected with in March.[NIAID/National Institutes of Health via AP]
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 6,224 new cases of COVID-19 and 51 more deaths from the illness on Saturday. The state now totals 351,169 cumulative confirmed cases and 3,005 coronavirus deaths.
Over the past week, Wisconsin has averaged 6,408 newly reported cases per day — after weeks of spiking case counts, rolling seven-day averages have remained relatively steady for the past week. Deaths, however, have continued to increase. Over the past week, Wisconsin has averaged 54 new deaths per day, up 17% from last Saturday.
Over the past seven days, an average of 30.6% of all people tested have been confirmed to have COVID-19, and 14.6% of all tests were confirmed as positive — those positivity rates are a marked decline from a week prior, a sign that Wisconsin’s outbreak could be past its peak.
The DHS reported that 208 more people were admitted to the hospital with complications from COVID-19. As of the latest report, 2,076 coronavirus patients were in the hospital, with 441 in intensive care. About 4.5% of all people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Wisconsin have been hospitalized.
To date, 272,180 people are recovering from the virus and no longer need isolation, while 75,922 cases remain active.