Jeramey Jannene
WI Daily

Active Hospitalizations Cross 500 For First Time

Cases hit an all-time high in early September, now hospitalizations are catching up.

By - Sep 23rd, 2020 07:10 pm
COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

COVID-19. Credit: U.S. Army.

The number of people actively hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19 has climbed steadily in September. As of Wednesday afternoon, it crossed 500 for the first time.

A total of 509 Wisconsin residents are actively hospitalized with a confirmed case of the disease according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association COVID-19 dashboard. The figure is up 35 from Tuesday and 139 from a week ago. The Department of Health Services reports that 56 people were newly hospitalized in the past 24 hours, bringing the outbreak total to 6,821.

The hospitalizations, a lagging indicator of the disease’s spread, come as the state is reporting record numbers of new cases.

The Department of Health Services reported that 1,762 people tested positive in the past 24 hours.

The new cases come from 13,453 processed tests. The number of tests processed in the past seven days has climbed to 78,090, the highest total since August 13th. A high of 99,920 was recorded for the week ending August 6th.

And while testing isn’t at an all-time high, cases are. The seven-day case total hit 13,220. The high before September brought a surge of cases with it was 6,512 for the week of July 26th.

The seven- and 14-day positive case rates now stand at 16.93 and 15.63 percent, the former of which is at an all time high and the latter of which moved upward after falling for the first time in 21 days. The figure is a measure of the percentage of tests that indicate a new case of the disease. The 14-day figure hit a low of 2.69 percent on June 19th.

Officials have looked for the positive case rate to trend downward to indicate a slowing spread of disease and sufficient testing. Multiple public health benchmarks call for the positive case figure to be sustained under five percent.

Eight deaths were reported by DHS, bringing the statewide total to 1,259. There have been 525 deaths recorded in Milwaukee County. An average of 5.93 deaths per day have been reported across the state over the past 30 days.

Brown County has recorded 3,085.3 cases per 100,000 residents (up from 2,958.9). According to DHS data, 2,896.4 out of every 100,000 Milwaukee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 (up from 2,881.1) since the outbreak began.

Forest (2,515.8), Walworth (2,439.2), La Crosse (2,353.5), Racine (2,348.8), Iron (2,344.3), Kewaunee (2,073.2) and Outgamie (2,063.7) are the only other counties with more than 2,000 cases per 100,000 residents.

The statewide average of cases per 100,000 residents rose to 1,832.4 (up from 1,801.9). Wisconsin has recorded a per-capita rate of 269.6 per 100,000 in the past two weeks according to the DHS activity level report released Wednesday.

A total of 105,932 residents have tested positive for the disease.

Charts and Maps

Data from DHS.

Percent of COVID-19 cases by hospitalization status

Hospitalization status Number of confirmed cases as of 9/23/2020 Percent of confirmed cases as of 9/23/2020
Ever hospitalized 6,821 6%
Never hospitalized 60,596 57%
Unknown 38,515 36%
Total 105,932 100%

Percent of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization within age group

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race

Data from DHS.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by ethnicity

Data from DHS.

Number of positive cases and deaths by county

Number of confirmed cases Number of negatives* Number of probable cases Number of deaths** Cases per 100,000 people (counties) Case fatality percentage***
Adams 9/23/2020 214 3,762 13 4 1,044.20 1.90%
Ashland 9/23/2020 74 2,456 7 2 466.5 2.70%
Barron 9/23/2020 425 8,564 21 4 926.3 0.90%
Bayfield 9/23/2020 89 2,854 8 1 585.4 1.10%
Brown 9/23/2020 8,032 66,295 176 61 3,085.30 0.80%
Buffalo 9/23/2020 128 2,410 4 2 947.5 1.60%
Burnett 9/23/2020 155 2,595 6 3 1,003.40 1.90%
Calumet 9/23/2020 942 9,440 40 2 1,830.00 0.20%
Chippewa 9/23/2020 489 14,088 26 0 761.4 0.00%
Clark 9/23/2020 347 5,291 31 8 998.8 2.30%
Columbia 9/23/2020 549 14,306 48 2 961 0.40%
Crawford 9/23/2020 147 4,291 4 0 887.9 0.00%
Dane 9/23/2020 9,040 191,786 468 41 1,710.50 0.50%
Dodge 9/23/2020 1,677 22,075 24 14 1,879.90 0.80%
Door 9/23/2020 264 6,410 19 3 941.1 1.10%
Douglas 9/23/2020 397 7,389 4 0 904.9 0.00%
Dunn 9/23/2020 426 8,043 22 0 951.4 0.00%
Eau Claire 9/23/2020 1,703 21,300 21 6 1,655.10 0.40%
Florence 9/23/2020 73 831 0 1 1,651.20 1.40%
Fond du Lac 9/23/2020 1,840 22,429 49 13 1,780.00 0.70%
Forest 9/23/2020 231 1,533 3 4 2,515.80 1.70%
Grant 9/23/2020 873 13,050 42 19 1,666.90 2.20%
Green 9/23/2020 458 7,680 20 2 1,242.40 0.40%
Green Lake 9/23/2020 215 3,605 37 0 1,126.40 0.00%
Iowa 9/23/2020 169 5,269 24 0 710.1 0.00%
Iron 9/23/2020 137 1,468 7 1 2,344.30 0.70%
Jackson 9/23/2020 115 6,288 4 1 557.1 0.90%
Jefferson 9/23/2020 1,278 18,470 73 8 1,509.30 0.60%
Juneau 9/23/2020 337 8,142 4 2 1,252.40 0.60%
Kenosha 9/23/2020 3,334 36,825 389 65 1,981.80 1.90%
Kewaunee 9/23/2020 428 3,618 5 2 2,073.20 0.50%
La Crosse 9/23/2020 2,785 24,410 157 2 2,353.50 0.10%
Lafayette 9/23/2020 239 3,322 6 0 1,415.60 0.00%
Langlade 9/23/2020 142 3,243 1 2 718 1.40%
Lincoln 9/23/2020 169 4,649 12 1 594.2 0.60%
Manitowoc 9/23/2020 918 14,146 67 3 1,143.90 0.30%
Marathon 9/23/2020 1,151 20,180 97 14 854.2 1.20%
Marinette 9/23/2020 783 9,440 19 7 1,912.60 0.90%
Marquette 9/23/2020 207 3,021 8 1 1,346.10 0.50%
Menominee 9/23/2020 58 2,356 0 0 1,323.60 0.00%
Milwaukee 9/23/2020 27,356 248,038 1,648 525 2,896.40 1.90%
Monroe 9/23/2020 423 9,848 13 2 919.6 0.50%
Oconto 9/23/2020 729 8,534 42 4 1,920.30 0.50%
Oneida 9/23/2020 366 7,850 6 2 1,019.10 0.50%
Outagamie 9/23/2020 3,793 39,192 232 28 2,063.70 0.70%
Ozaukee 9/23/2020 1,259 17,701 95 19 1,424.90 1.50%
Pepin 9/23/2020 56 1,399 3 0 762 0.00%
Pierce 9/23/2020 414 7,362 240 6 994.4 1.40%
Polk 9/23/2020 228 8,612 6 2 519.4 0.90%
Portage 9/23/2020 1,270 12,457 38 4 1,795.80 0.30%
Price 9/23/2020 57 2,463 2 0 412.8 0.00%
Racine 9/23/2020 4,585 63,147 423 94 2,348.80 2.10%
Richland 9/23/2020 95 4,344 11 4 536.4 4.20%
Rock 9/23/2020 2,327 34,590 192 32 1,452.00 1.40%
Rusk 9/23/2020 52 2,206 6 1 357.8 1.90%
Sauk 9/23/2020 832 18,571 57 3 1,327.30 0.40%
Sawyer 9/23/2020 196 4,416 0 1 1,182.90 0.50%
Shawano 9/23/2020 643 9,020 5 1 1,558.40 0.20%
Sheboygan 9/23/2020 1,501 21,951 55 15 1,310.70 1.00%
St. Croix 9/23/2020 859 15,233 63 8 974.3 0.90%
Taylor 9/23/2020 157 2,700 3 3 762.9 1.90%
Trempealeau 9/23/2020 580 6,426 17 2 1,977.40 0.30%
Vernon 9/23/2020 186 5,579 5 0 614.1 0.00%
Vilas 9/23/2020 177 4,281 5 1 817.3 0.60%
Walworth 9/23/2020 2,503 23,068 146 34 2,439.20 1.40%
Washburn 9/23/2020 95 2,775 5 1 599.3 1.10%
Washington 9/23/2020 2,380 23,586 72 32 1,769.70 1.30%
Waukesha 9/23/2020 6,838 78,475 636 86 1,715.30 1.30%
Waupaca 9/23/2020 942 10,226 109 19 1,821.00 2.00%
Waushara 9/23/2020 289 6,549 6 2 1,189.40 0.70%
Winnebago 9/23/2020 2,988 38,248 137 23 1,764.50 0.80%
Wood 9/23/2020 718 14,006 46 4 969.9 0.60%

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