Wisconsin crosses milestone of 4,000 deaths from COVID-19

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says as of Saturday, the state has seen more than 4,000 deaths from COVID-19 since testing began earlier this year. The state hit the milestone after confirming its first case 311 days ago.

The milestone comes as the state reported 50 new deaths within the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative death toll to 4,041. The state is averaging 48 COVID-19 deaths a day over the past 7 days, four fewer than Friday’s seven day average of 52. The seven day average of deaths hasn’t been below 50 since December 3, when the seven day average was at 46. However, the death rate continues to hold steady at 0.93% after climbing there Thursday. The death rate had fallen to a low of 0.84% on November 18.

State health officials say out of 13,642 new test results released Saturday, 4,059 people tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. That is a percentage rate of 29.75%. The other 9,583 were negative. The seven day average of new cases sits at 3,519 a day, which equals 32.04%. It is also below the 14-day average of 34.04%.

Cases and deaths by county in Wisconsin will be listed later in this article.

This table shows when the state hit each 1,000 COVID-19 death milestone since testing began earlier this year:

Number of milestone deaths in Wisconsin	Days since first case was confirmed in Wisconsin	Days since WI’s last COVID-19 milestone death	Date of WI’s last COVID-19 milestone death
4,000 (4,041)	311	21	12/12/2020
3,000 (3,005)	290	21	11/21/2020
2,000 (2,031)	269	82	10/31/2020
1,000 (1,006)	188	146	8/11/2020
First deaths reported in WI from COVID-19 (2)	43	N/A	3/19/2020

Since February 5, more than 430,000 people (434,016) in Wisconsin have tested positive for the coronavirus which causes COVID-19. Another 2,675,364 who have tested negative.

Currently, there are 48,267 active cases diagnosed in the last 30 days who haven’t been medically cleared, which is 11.1% of all cases dating back to February. That’s a decrease from Friday’s percentage of 11.7%. Another 381,633 (87.9%) are considered recovered. The DHS says that general “recovered” category includes some people still feel lingering effects from their COVID-19 infection.

Federal officials announced Saturday the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning. Officials say trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies start delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.

RELATED: States will start getting COVID-19 vaccine Monday, US says

HOSPITALIZATIONS

On Saturday, the state reported 142 more people hospitalized for serious COVID-19 symptoms since Friday’s report, bringing the total number of people ever hospitalized for COVID-19 to 19,162, or 4.4% of all known cases. The 7-day average is 148 hospitalizations per day, so that metric is below average.

In Friday’s report, which are the latest numbers from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA), 1,448 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized, with 328 in intensive care. That’s down from a peak of 2,277 who were in hospitals on November 17. That’s 829 fewer people in hospitals for COVID-19, but remember that changes in hospitalizations take both deaths and hospital discharges into account. On November 17, the death rate was 0.85%. In the past 24 days, 4,203 people have spent some time in the hospital for COVID-19; 1,250 people with the disease have died; and the death rate has risen to 0.93%.

The Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals are currently treating 86 COVID-19 patients, including 14 in intensive care. The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals have 102 COVID-19 patients, 32 in ICU.

The alternate care facility at the state fairgrounds was treating 8 patients Saturday, one less than Friday. The field hospital takes patients who are close to being released from the hospital but not quite ready, such as those who are ambulatory but still need oxygen, to ease the caseload at overwhelmed hospitals.

HOSPITAL READINESS – these numbers will be updated when new figures become available later this afternoon.

According to the WHA, statewide there are 208 ICU beds open, which is 14.2% of all the intensive care beds, and 1,759 of all types of medical beds are open, or 15.7%.

The Fox Valley region, which serves 8 counties, has 16 ICU beds (15.4%) and 11.4% of all beds open. The Northeast region, serving 7 counties, has 42 ICU beds (20.3%) and 21.5% of all beds open.

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19, and whether a bed can be filled depends on whether the hospital has the necessary medical and support staff.

The need for personal protective equipment (PPE) remains unchanged from Thursday. Eighteen of the state’s 134 hospitals have less than a week’s supply of gowns, 13 are short on paper medical masks, 10 have less than 7 days’ worth of goggles, and 9 are in need of N95 masks.

SATURDAY’S COUNTY CASE NUMBERS WILL BE HERE MOMENTARILY (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold)

Wisconsin*

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **

Earlier this week, the DHS published a new, interactive map online that shows COVID-19 virus cases and deaths by county, municipality, ZIP Code or school district (CLICK HERE). You can view cases and deaths by total numbers or per capita or deaths as a percentage of total cases. Health Secretary-designee Andrea Palm says it “offers new ways for people to understand COVID-19 activity within their communities.”

* Viewers have asked us why the state has different numbers than what’s reported on some county health department websites. The DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

The DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their death. Most of the people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, which raises a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19 but would’ve lived longer if not for their infection. The state may revise case and death numbers after further review, such as the victim’s residence, duplicated records, or a correction in lab results. Details can be found on the DHS website and Frequently Asked Questions.

**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.

Symptoms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:

• Fever of 100.4 or higher
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell

Prevention

• The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it. Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
• To help prevent the spread of the virus:
• Stay at least six feet away from other people
• Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
• Stay at home as much as possible
• Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments
• Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care
• Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
• Cover your mouth and nose with a mask. At a minimum, use a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.

Copyright 2020 WBAY. All rights reserved.