More than 6,000 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin as state experiences concerning rise in COVID-19 deaths

Wisconsin on Friday reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time, capping the deadliest week of the pandemic so far.

The state Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported 6,141 new cases and 62 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 2,256.

Friday’s toll is just under the record 64 deaths reported Oct. 27. Deaths from the virus are rising quickly, concerning health officials who do not see an end in sight to Wisconsin’s escalating public health crisis unless residents take action to slow its spread.

The last seven days have seen a staggering 284 people with COVID-19 die in Wisconsin. On Friday the average daily death toll, averaged over the last week, reached a new high of 41.

Two months ago, an average of seven people with COVID-19 died each day.

One model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation shows between 5,000 and 6,900 lives could be lost to COVID-19 in Wisconsin by Jan. 1 if the virus spread doesn’t slow down. If everyone in the state wore a face mask consistently, that number could reduce to about 4,900 deaths, the model shows. 

But Wisconsin’s daily death count of 62 on Friday was nearly double the model’s projection of 33, which means the projection could be understating the potential level of death. The model predicts the state could see more than 100 deaths per day beginning Dec. 13.

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Also Friday, the seven-day average for new daily cases broke past 5,000 for the first time, following high case counts over the last several days. At 5,130, Friday’s seven-day average is more than six times the average reported two months ago.

Cases began surging in early September as students returned to colleges and universities and have picked up speed in recent weeks, repeatedly breaking records as the virus spreads to all corners of the state. The explosive, unimpeded case growth has resulted in rising hospitalizations and deaths. 

The crisis is only expected to worsen since cases keep rising quickly.

As of Thursday, there were 1,774 people hospitalized with the virus, including 376 patients in intensive care units. Both numbers were all-time highs. Hospitalizations have risen over 500% in the last two months.

Deaths from the coronavirus commonly hit the most vulnerable populations hardest. People 70 and up make up three-quarters of Wisconsin’s COVID-19 deaths, according to state data.

In Milwaukee County, people 80 and up are experiencing a sharp increase in deaths from the virus, Greenfield Health Department Director Darren Rausch said in a news conference Thursday.

People 25 to 39 are leading the surge in cases in the county, Rausch said, but all age groups are experiencing a rise.

Also seeing a concerning and persistent upward climb is the average positivity rate, which hit a new high of 33% Friday. The measure looks at first-time positive tests over the last seven days.

As Wisconsin enters its third month of sustained, rapid growth of COVID-19 cases, the U.S. is experiencing its third, and worst, wave of the virus. On Thursday the country reported more than 116,000 new cases, a new daily record, according to The Washington Post. Twenty states saw their highest-ever daily case totals, the newspaper reported, and for the third day in a row, deaths exceeded 1,000.

More: Hundreds of health workers across Wisconsin are sidelined by COVID-19 infections, exposure

More than 2.1 million people have been tested statewide for the virus. Of the 256,065 Wisconsinites who have tested positive:

White House task force warns state needs more robust plan

The White House Coronavirus Task Force, which monitors the state’s outbreak, in its latest report is again urging state leaders to figure out a response that is more robust and unified than what’s in place now. 

White House officials warned that more people will die unnecessarily if the state doesn’t adopt a “more comprehensive” plan to combat the “unrelenting” rise in cases of coronavirus.

The recommendations come the same week Gov. Tony Evers’ health emergency order was declared invalid by a state appeals court on the same day it expired — though legal challenges had made it virtually irrelevant during its four-week lifetime.

“The current situation is severe and continues to worsen,” the Nov. 1 report says. “Additional government action and community engagement can limit further cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.”

The report shows Wisconsin is in the “red zone” for test positivity, with the eighth highest rate in the country.

It also showed Wisconsin had 543 new cases per 100,000 population, compared to a national average of 165 per 100,000 people. The state’s case rate is a 25% increase over the prior week, the report said.

“We have gone from being one of the lowest-risk states at the beginning of the pandemic to one of the highest risk states with no end in sight,” said Patrick Remington, former epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s preventive medicine residency program.

New rapid testing at UW campuses while Marquette dental students quarantine

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, speaking at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Friday, said he hopes the UW System’s “aggressive testing plan” to open rapid COVID-19 testing centers at campuses will identify more asymptomatic virus carriers and slow the spread of the virus in the pandemic-ravaged state.

Once asymptomatic carriers test positive, they can isolate immediately and work toward containing the virus. 

UW-Oshkosh will open a surge testing center Monday as part of an effort across 13 UW System campuses. The system received 250,000 Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests that give results within 15 minutes. Tests will be free and open to anyone in the community.

The UW System is the first in the country to utilize this particular rapid antigen test. If it’s successful, the “surge center” model will be used in other areas of the state, UW System President Tommy Thompson said. 

Meanwhile, Marquette University said the entire second-year cohort of its dental school is under quarantine after a “possible exposure” that happened off campus over Halloween weekend. 

The cohort has 102 students. The university said the move was a preemptive measure and all students are being tested. The students have been excluded from on-campus activities and clinic work.

Campus-wide, Marquette’s seven-day average positivity rate was 27% as of Wednesday. The rate has been rising since early October, according to its COVID-19 dashboard.

A Marquette spokesman said the cases have not been linked to distinct clusters, rather an overall increase in community spread across the campus and surrounding neighborhoods. 

Devi Shastri of the Journal Sentinel staff and Lydia Slattery of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin contributed to this report.

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