State reports 13 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, adds nearly 500 new cases

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – As the state of Wisconsin inches closer to having 40% of all residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, state health officials are continuing to report a decline in the number of people receiving a vaccination against the disease.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reported 481 new coronavirus cases in 56 counties Tuesday. Those cases made up 12.04% of the 3,996 tests for people getting tested for the first time or testing positive for the first time. The DHS reports the seven-day average percentage of positive total tests per day, including people who were tested multiple times, fell to 2.7% Tuesday.

Wisconsin is now averaging 419 cases per day, a metric which has dropped daily for more than two weeks.

After reporting no COVID-19 deaths for two days in a row, the DHS added another 13 deaths attributed to the disease in 11 counties: Dane, Kenosha, Milwaukee (2), Monroe, Outagamie, Racine (2), Shawano, Sheboygan, St. Croix, Walworth and Waukesha. The death toll grows to 6,971 lives lost. However, the 7-day average is holding steady at 8 deaths per day for the fourth day in a row, and the death rate has plateaued at 1.15% of all coronavirus cases.

Ninety-five hospitalizations for COVID-19 were reported between Monday and Tuesday mornings, much higher than the 7-day average of 63 hospitalizations per day. Current hospitalization numbers are updated later in this article and showed a one-day jump in patients in intensive care.

The DHS reports 45.5% of Wisconsin residents (2,650,991 people) received at least one dose of vaccine, and 39.6% are fully vaccinated (2,307,470 people). That’s an increase of 8,307 more people fully vaccinated since Monday. However, the 7-day average of 16,210 people per day completing the vaccine series is the lowest since mid-March.

According to our calculations, the 7-day average for doses administered – 23,065 per day -- is an increase from Monday, but the lowest since late January. Vaccination totals for WBAY’s viewing area are reported later in this article.

Children are continually showing the largest gain since vaccinations just opened up to them late last week. The DHS says 1 in 20 kids (5.7%) in the 12-to-15 age group already received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. That’s nearly an entire percentage point higher than Monday, while other age groups’ percentages grew by just one-tenth or two-tenth of a percentage point. Take into consideration that daily vaccination reports always include preliminary numbers as vaccinators continue reporting to the state.

Twelve- to 15-year-olds account for about 6% of the state’s population. Children under 12 make up 14% of the population.

Vaccinations by age group (and increase since Monday)

12-15: 5.7% received a dose (+0.9)/0.0% completed (none are eligible)
16-17: 28.3% received a dose (+0.1)/20.1% completed (+0.2)
18-24: 35.2% received a dose (+0.1)/27.8% completed (+0.2)
25-34: 41.6% received a dose (+0.1)/34.5% completed (+0.2)
35-44: 49.9% received a dose (+0.1)/42.3% completed (+0.2)
45-54: 52.1% received a dose (+0.1)/44.5% completed (+0.2)
55-64: 63.1% received a dose (+0.1)/55.1% completed (+0.2)
65+: 82.9% received a dose (+0.1)/78.1% completed (+0.1)

Vaccinations by gender (and increase since Monday)

Female: 48.9% received a dose (+0.2)/43.0% completed (+0.1)
Male: 41.6% received a dose (+0.1)/35.6% completed (+0.1)

Vaccination totals in WBAY’s viewing area are listed in a table below.

According to state data, the following number of doses have been administered by each provider in Wisconsin:

Johnson & Johnson – 190,356
Moderna – 2,073,149
Pfizer – 2,628,138

Although the DHS is still calculating final vaccination numbers for the week of May 9, the state currently as reports of 156,496 doses administered to Wisconsin residents, compared to 198,302 the week before. Wisconsin had been above 200,000 doses per week since the week of January 24.

TUESDAY’S COUNTY VACCINATION TOTALS

County (Population + Health region)	Received at least 1 dose (% of pop.)	Completed (% of pop.)
Brown (264,542) (NE)	118,978 (45.0%)	107,102 (40.5%)
Calumet (50,089) (FV)	20,350 (40.6%)	17,872 (35.7%)
Dodge (87,839)	31,968 (36.4%)	28,315 (32.2%)
Door (27,668) (NE)	16,963 (61.3%)	15,600 (56.4%)
Fond du Lac (103,403) (SE)	40,060 (38.7%)	35,637 (34.5%)
Forest (9,004)	3,563 (39.6%)	3,310 (36.8%)
Florence (4,295) (NE)	1,756 (40.9%)	1,628 (37.9%)
Green Lake (18,913) (FV)	7,521 (39.8%)	6,795 (35.9%)
Kewaunee (20,434) (NE)	7,804 (38.2%)	7,227 (35.4%)
Manitowoc (78,981) (NE)	34,231 (43.3%)	30,919 (39.1%)
Marinette (40,350) (NE)	15,407 (38.2%)	13,861 (34.4%)
Menominee (4,556) (FV)	2,062 (45.3%)	1,895 (41.6%)
Oconto (37,930) (NE)	14,634 (38.6%)	13,447 (35.5%)
Outagamie (187,885) (FV)	82,813 (44.1%)	71,644 (38.1%)
Shawano (40,899) (FV)	13,629 (33.3%)	12,226 (29.9%)
Sheboygan (115,340) (SE)	50,927 (44.2%)	44,787 (38.8%)
Waupaca (50,990) (FV)	19,487 (38.2%)	17,183 (33.7%)
Waushara (24,443) (FV)	7,771 (31.8%)	7,118 (29.1%)
Winnebago (171,907) (FV)	73,246 (42.6%)	64,501 (37.5%)
NORTHEAST REGION (474,200) (NE)	209,773 (44.2%)	189,784 (40.0%)
FOX VALLEY REGION (549,682) (FV)	226,879 (41.3%)	199,234 (36.2%)
WISCONSIN (5,822,434)	2,650,991 (45.5%)	2,305,470 (39.6%)

State health officials are promoting the CDC’s Vaccine Finder website to make it easier to find and schedule appointments near you.

CLICK HERE for the First Alert Vaccine Team’s guide to vaccine clinics and vaccinators, including phone numbers and websites to make appointments and information on free rides to appointments.

CLICK HERE to track vaccine data in Wisconsin

HOSPITAL READINESS

As we reported earlier, there were 95 hospital admissions for COVID-19 in the past 24-hour period. The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports 316 patients are hospitalized, and 81 of them are in ICU. That’s 10 more patients in ICU than the day before but 5 fewer patients in hospitals overall than Monday. The WHA’s daily updates take hospital discharges and deaths into account.

It’s worth noting that’ 17 fewer COVID-19 patients in ICU than a week ago, and there have been fewer than 100 in ICU for 18 of the past 20 days.

Fox Valley hospitals were treating 13 COVID-19 patients, with none in ICU. The numbers are unchanged from Monday.

The Northeast region’s hospitals were treating 28 COVID-19 patients, with 9 of them in ICU -- two more people with COVID-19 in ICU than Monday but 1 fewer patient overall.

For hospital readiness, the WHA reports 228 intensive care beds (16.8% of the state’s ICU beds) and 17,13 of all beds (16.0%) in the state’s 136 hospitals are open. That’s ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative-flow isolation beds.

The Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals have 11 open ICU beds (10.6%) among them and a total of 106 available beds (12.4%). There are no intermediate care beds available.

The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals have 31 open ICU beds (15.0%) and 194 beds of all types (20.3%) available.

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. While we use terms like “available” or “open,” a hospital bed can only be occupied if there’s enough staffing to care for the patient, including doctors, nurses and food services.

The DHS reports 3,518,055 people were tested in Wisconsin at least once for the coronavirus. Out of these:

606,755 tested positive for the COVID-19 virus
30,345 were hospitalized (5.0%)
6,971 died (1.15%)
592,672 are considered recovered (97.7%)
6,846 are active cases (1.1%)

TUESDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (counties with new cases are indicated in bold) *

Wisconsin

Adams – 1,755 cases (+2) (12 deaths)
Ashland – 1,267 cases (15 deaths)
Barron – 5,837 cases (+5) (82 deaths)
Bayfield - 1,152 cases (19 deaths)
Brown – 31,689 cases (+19) (244 deaths)
Buffalo – 1,368 cases (7 deaths)
Burnett – 1,401 cases (+2) (22 deaths)
Calumet – 5,810 cases (+2) (51 deaths)
Chippewa – 7,416 cases (+11) (94 deaths)
Clark – 3,270 cases (59 deaths)
Columbia – 5,465 cases (+2) (57 deaths)
Crawford – 1,723 cases (18 deaths)
Dane – 44,795 (+24) (307 deaths) (+1)
Dodge – 11,905 cases (+11) (165 deaths)
Door – 2,618 cases (+2) (22 deaths)
Douglas – 4,077 cases (+8) (39 deaths)
Dunn – 4,668 cases (+2) (32 deaths)
Eau Claire – 11,559 cases (+4) (107 deaths)
Florence - 448 cases (13 deaths)
Fond du Lac – 12,471 cases (+7) (111 deaths)
Forest - 961 cases (23 deaths)
Grant – 4,923 cases (+1) (85 deaths)
Green – 3,506 cases (18 deaths)
Green Lake - 1,580 cases (+2) (19 deaths)
Iowa - 2,036 cases (+3) (10 deaths)
Iron - 580 cases (+2) (21 deaths)
Jackson - 2,642 cases (26 deaths)
Jefferson – 8,411 cases (+5) (110 deaths)
Juneau - 3,198 cases (+8) (22 deaths)
Kenosha – 15,762 cases (+22) (309 deaths) (+1)
Kewaunee – 2,354 cases (26 deaths)
La Crosse – 12,829 cases (+13) (87 deaths)
Lafayette - 1,566 cases (9 deaths)
Langlade - 2,011 cases (+2) (32 deaths)
Lincoln – 3,064 cases (64 deaths)
Manitowoc – 7,596 cases (+15) (70 deaths)
Marathon – 14,752 cases (+13) (188 deaths)
Marinette - 4,189 cases (+8) (65 deaths)
Marquette – 1,380 cases (+1) (23 deaths)
Menominee – 804 cases (11 deaths)
Milwaukee – 106,405 (+54) (1,322 deaths) (+2)
Monroe – 4,565 cases (+6) (38 deaths) (+1)
Oconto – 4,487 cases (+12) (55 deaths)
Oneida - 3,645 cases (+1) (71 deaths)
Outagamie – 20,698 cases (+13) (207 deaths) (+1)
Ozaukee – 8,213 cases (+7) (89 deaths)
Pepin – 861 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
Pierce – 4,000 cases (+5) (37 deaths)
Polk – 4,600 cases (+24) (52 deaths)
Portage – 6,789 cases (+12) (68 deaths)
Price – 1,235 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
Racine – 21,921 cases (+24) (352 deaths) (+2)
Richland - 1,309 cases (+2) (15 deaths)
Rock – 16,192 cases (+24) (174 deaths)
Rusk - 1,338 cases (17 deaths)
Sauk – 5,879 cases (+6) (48 deaths)
Sawyer - 1,714 cases (+3) (26 deaths)
Shawano – 4,712 cases (+0) (73 deaths) (+1)
Sheboygan – 13,769 cases (+2) (143 deaths) (+1)
St. Croix – 7,977 cases (+10) (55 deaths) (+1)
Taylor - 1,877 cases (24 deaths)
Trempealeau – 3,548 cases (+1) (42 deaths)
Vernon – 1,931 cases (+1) (39 deaths)
Vilas - 2,271 cases (+3) (39 deaths)
Walworth – 9,504 cases (+10) (137 deaths) (+1)
Washburn – 1,482 cases (+1) (20 deaths)
Washington – 14,741 cases (+11) (154 deaths)
Waukesha – 43,865 cases (+29) (535 deaths) (+1)
Waupaca – 4,904 cases (+1) (120 deaths)
Waushara – 2,169 cases (+1) (34 deaths)
Winnebago – 18,217 cases (+16) (197 deaths)
Wood – 7,098 cases (+4) (80 deaths)

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **

Alger - 321 cases (+1) (2 deaths)
Baraga - 657 cases (+6) (37 deaths)
Chippewa - 1,066 cases (+1) (28 deaths)
Delta – 3,323 cases (+7) (74 deaths) (+2)
Dickinson - 2,385 cases (+1) (59 deaths)
Gogebic - 1,032 cases (22 deaths)
Houghton – 2,502 cases (+5) (32 deaths)
Iron – 974 cases (42 deaths)
Keweenaw – 143 cases (1 death)
Luce – 206 cases (+4) (2 deaths)
Mackinac - 439 cases (+3) (3 deaths)
Marquette - 4,227 cases (+6) (60 deaths)
Menominee - 1,780 cases (+0) (40 deaths) (+1)
Ontonagon – 408 cases (20 deaths)
Schoolcraft - 333 cases (+2) (4 deaths)

* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. 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 Michigan Department of Health does not release reports on Sundays.

COVID-19 TRACING APP

Wisconsin’s COVID-19 tracing app, “Wisconsin Exposure Notification,” is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough, for long enough, they’ll anonymously share a random string of numbers via Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, they’ll receive a code to type into the app. If your phones “pinged” each other in the last 14 days, you’ll receive a push notification that you are at risk of exposure. The app doesn’t collect personal information or location information, so you won’t know from whom or where, but you will be told what day the exposure might have occurred so that you can quarantine for the appropriate amount of time.

SYMPTOMS

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