More than 100,000 in Wisconsin have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, DHS reports 3 new deaths

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – State health officials say as of Sunday, more than 100,000 people have received both of their COVID-19 vaccines. According to the Department of Health Services (DHS), a total of 101,219 people received both doses, an increase of 2,465 from Saturday’s report.

So far, the DHS reports a total of 544,234 shots in the arm have been administered in the state. The latest report shows an increase of 22,472 doses have been given within the past 24 hours. (These numbers are preliminary as vaccinators’ reports come in, so they can represent shots given over the last few days.)

For the ninth straight day, the state has reported fewer than 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus. State officials say 1,007 tests were positive for the coronavirus out of a total 5,220 results Sunday, which equals 19.29% of the tests. That figure has been below 25% daily for the past seven days.

Meanwhile, the 7-day average is at 22.08%, and is slightly above the past two days. Saturday’s average was 21.85%, while Friday’s average was 21.72%.

The remaining 4,213 tests which came back Sunday were negative. To date, more than 2.5 million people tested in Wisconsin tested negative for the COVID-19 virus.

The state also tracks results for people we’ve been tested more than once. By that measure, the DHS says the positivity rate’s 7-day average was 5.2% on Saturday. (This calculation is at least a day behind because it’s based on preliminary numbers, including negative tests undergoing further review.)

On Sunday, the state’s death rate from COVID-19 held steady at 1.09% for the third straight day. The state added three new COVID-19 deaths, Sunday, which brought the 7-day average of deaths per day down from 30 to 29. A total of 5,896 people in the state have died from COVID-19. When the state hit the 1.09% death rate on Friday, that was the first time the figure had reached that level since September 30.

As Action 2 News has reported, when the state has fewer people being tested for coronavirus for the first time, or testing positive for the first time, each death carries more weight. We also want to point out the state reported fewer than 50 deaths on 26 days out of the entire month of January.

This coming Friday marks one year since the first coronavirus case was diagnosed in Wisconsin. Since then, 2,507,600 people have tested negative. 542,415 people have tested positive: 5,896 of them (1.09%) have died; 517,169 are considered recovered (95.4%); and 19,161 are currently active cases (3.5%).

New cases were confirmed in all Wisconsin counties except for Ashland, Fond du Lac, Forest, Green Lake, Iowa, Jackson, Marquette, Menominee, Pepin, Richland, Rusk, and Trempealeau counties. The state reports Trempealeau County revised its case number, and Jackson County revised its death number. You can find full county case and death numbers later in this article.

Hospitalizations

For a fifth day in a row, state health officials are reporting fewer than 100 new hospitalizations for COVID-19. On Sunday, the DHS said 55 people were hospitalized in the past 24-hour period. The 7-day average is 86 admissions per day, a decrease from 88, which had held steady since Thursday. Wisconsin health officials reported fewer than 100 hospitalizations on 20 days this month. Currently, 24,298 people have been hospitalized at some point for COVID-19 treatment, or 4.48% of all known cases.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports Sunday there are currently 697 COVID-19 patients in hospitals. That’s 40 more than Saturday. Out of those, 168 of these patients are in intensive care, an increase of 3 from Saturday. Daily changes in hospitalizations take deaths, discharges and new admissions into account.

Fox Valley hospitals region are caring for 53 COVID-19 patients (up 8 from Saturday), with 10 in ICU (up 2 from Saturday).

Northeast region hospitals are treating 74 COVID-19 patients (up 13 from Saturday), including 21 in ICU (up 3 from Saturday.

For the third day in a row, there were no hospital overflow patients at the alternative care facility at State Fair Park on Sunday. There were also no patients there for outpatient Bamlanivimab infusion therapy for the second straight day.

Hospital Readiness

In terms of hospital readiness, The WHA reported 297 ICU beds (20.25%) and 2,451 (21.93%) of all medical beds (ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative flow isolation) are open in the state’s 134 hospitals.

The Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals have 11 ICU beds (10.57%) among them and 107 medical beds total (12.54%) open for the eight counties they serve.

The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals had 52 ICU beds (25.12%) and 285 of all medical beds (29.81%) for patients in seven counties.

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. We use the term “open” instead of “available” because whether a bed can be filled depends on whether the hospital has enough staffing for a patient in that bed, including doctors, nurses and food services.

Vaccinations

Action 2 News has put together a guide of vaccination clinics and health agencies distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to people age 65 and older. CLICK HERE for locations and phone numbers and websites to register.

Registration opened Sunday afternoon for vaccine appointments at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh. The first two days of appointments this week will be reserved for those who are 75 and older, and those 65 and older will be able to be vaccinated Wednesday – Friday of this week.

By March 1, about one-third of the state’s population could be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. The DHS largely accepted a committee’s recommendations for phase 1b of COVID-19 vaccinations and prioritized them in the following order (click here for a complete report):

• Education, child care
• Medicaid Long-term Care programs
• Public-facing essential workers
• Non-front line health care personnel
• Congregate living

If there’s a shortage of vaccine supply, those groups will be further prioritized by risk factors including medical conditions, race and socioeconomic vulnerability (see the list of possible sub-priorities here).

SUNDAY’S COUNTY CASE NUMBERS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *

Wisconsin

• Adams – 1,504 cases (+6) (11 deaths)
• Ashland – 1,146 cases (16 deaths)
• Barron – 5,134 cases (+12) (71 deaths)
• Bayfield - 1,035 cases (+2) (18 deaths)
• Brown – 29,324 cases (+41) (197 deaths)
• Buffalo – 1,266 cases (+5) (7 deaths)
• Burnett – 1,103 cases (+5) (23 deaths)
• Calumet – 5,251 cases (+21) (39 deaths)
• Chippewa – 6,822 cases (+21) (80 deaths)
• Clark – 3,103 cases (+8) (56 deaths)
• Columbia – 4,841 cases (+9) (44 deaths) (+1)
• Crawford – 1,639 cases (+2) (16 deaths)
• Dane – 37,949 cases (+101) (251 deaths)
• Dodge – 11,159 cases (+7) (147 deaths) (+1)
• Door – 2,354 cases (+7) (18 deaths)
• Douglas – 3,552 cases (+12) (18 deaths)
• Dunn – 4,054 cases (+14) (26 deaths)
• Eau Claire – 10,554 cases (+24) (98 deaths)
• Florence - 426 cases (+1) (12 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 11,530 cases (84 deaths)
• Forest - 911 cases (22 deaths)
• Grant – 4,500 cases (+12) (79 deaths)
• Green – 2,729 cases (+16) (13 deaths)
• Green Lake - 1,491 cases (15 deaths)
• Iowa - 1,790 cases (9 deaths)
• Iron - 476 cases (+1) (19 deaths)
• Jackson - 2,548 cases (22 deaths) (State revised, decrease of 1)
• Jefferson – 7,552 cases (+10) (71 deaths)
• Juneau - 2,883 cases (+14) (17 deaths)
• Kenosha – 14,239 cases (+32) (270 deaths)
• Kewaunee – 2,352 cases (+4) (26 deaths)
• La Crosse – 11,728 cases (+41) (73 deaths) (+1)
• Lafayette - 1,377 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
• Langlade - 1,890 cases (+2) (31 deaths)
• Lincoln – 2,805 cases (+3) (55 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 6,939 cases (+10) (60 deaths)
• Marathon – 13,306 cases (+20) (169 deaths)
• Marinette - 3,904 cases (+1) (60 deaths)
• Marquette – 1,269 cases (21 deaths)
• Menominee - 783 cases (11 deaths)
• Milwaukee – 94,946 (+194) (1,136 deaths) (+1)
• Monroe – 4,086 cases (+13) (30 deaths)
• Oconto – 4,152 cases (+5) (47 deaths)
• Oneida - 3,197 cases (+21) (57 deaths)
• Outagamie – 18,404 cases (+38) (181 deaths)
• Ozaukee – 7,345 cases (+7) (72 deaths)
• Pepin – 777 cases (7 deaths)
• Pierce – 3,320 cases (+5) (33 deaths)
• Polk – 3,589 cases (+11) (42 deaths)
• Portage – 6,165 cases (+15) (59 deaths)
• Price – 1,103 cases (+1) (7 deaths)
• Racine – 19,813 cases (+17) (299 deaths)
• Richland - 1,228 cases (13 deaths)
• Rock – 13,777 cases (+26) (144 deaths)
• Rusk - 1,228 cases (15 deaths)
• Sauk – 5,074 cases (+4) (36 deaths)
• Sawyer - 1,416 cases (+6) (17 deaths)
• Shawano – 4,505 cases (+5) (69 deaths)
• Sheboygan – 12,453 cases (+16) (114 deaths)
• St. Croix – 6,130 cases (+16) (41 deaths)
• Taylor - 1,757 cases (+5) (20 deaths)
• Trempealeau – 3,273 cases (State revised, decrease of 1) (36 deaths)
• Vernon – 1,735 cases (+1) (34 deaths)
• Vilas - 1,957 cases (+7) (32 deaths)
• Walworth – 8,590 cases (+3) (118 deaths)
• Washburn – 1,233 cases (+7) (18 deaths)
• Washington – 13,279 cases (+18) (123 deaths)
• Waukesha – 39,050 cases (+57) (446 deaths)
• Waupaca – 4,618 cases (+8) (107 deaths)
• Waushara – 2,044 cases (+1) (25 deaths)
• Winnebago – 16,539 cases (+18) (169 deaths)
• Wood – 6,414 cases (+16) (67 deaths)

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **

• Alger - 272 cases (1 death)
• Baraga - 487 cases (31 deaths)
• Chippewa - 695 cases (20 deaths)
• Delta – 2,615 cases (63 deaths)
• Dickinson - 2,095 cases (State revised, decrease of 1) (55 deaths)
• Gogebic - 849 cases (17 deaths)
• Houghton – 1,991 cases (31 deaths)
• Iron – 851 cases (38 deaths)
• Keweenaw – 105 cases (1 death)
• Luce – 130 cases
• Mackinac - 277 cases (3 deaths)
• Marquette - 3,401 cases (53 deaths)
• Menominee - 1,592 cases (33 deaths)
• Ontonagon – 331 cases (17 deaths)
• Schoolcraft - 226 cases (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 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. They 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.

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:

• 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

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