More Wisconsin counties bumped to 'high' coronavirus activity levels as state reports 540 new cases - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Matt Piper USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Published 3:56 PM EDT Jul 1, 2020

A recent jump in new cases of the coronavirus continued Wednesday, when state health officials added 14 counties to Wisconsin's list of those with "high" disease activity.

But hospitalizations stayed flat Wednesday, and the rate of positive tests for the virus that causes COVID-19 dropped slightly after trending upward recently.

Out of 12,600 test results reported Wednesday, 540 were positive, or 4.3% That's the lowest rate in a week.

Over the past seven days, when new cases have averaged nearly 500, the percent of tests positive for the coronavirus has been 5.1%, compared with 3.6% in the seven days before that, and 2.7% in the seven days before that.

Five percent is still a far cry from late April and early May, when testing was limited and positivity regularly hit double-digits.

Wednesday broke a streak of three straight days in which new cases were the most ever on that day of the week. The increase ranked second for a Wednesday, after 599 new positives reported May 27.

More: Coronavirus is spreading so fast among Wisconsin 20-somethings that the CDC came to investigate. Is it protests? Bars? Here's what we know.

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There were 237 known COVID-19 patients in Wisconsin hospitals and another 147 inpatients awaiting test results. Both numbers were down slightly from Tuesday's level and have yet to track with upturns in confirmed cases and test positivity.

Two more deaths were announced Wednesday, bringing the state total to 786.

Steady levels of hospitalizations and deaths can be partly explained by the increased prevalence of the disease among 20-somethings, who are less likely than older age groups to be hospitalized (3%, compared to 12% overall) or die (1%, compared to 3% overall).

But 20-somethings accounted for a lower percentage of Wednesday's new positives than in recent days. Only a third of Wednesday's new cases (180) were in that age group, down from 42% (251) on Wednesday.

Public health officials in Dane County, home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shut down indoor service in bars Wednesday after 20-somethings drove recent growth there, and researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating young adult spread in Winnebago County.

The state health department also updated its weekly activity ratings for Wisconsin and its counties on Wednesday. The overall rating for Wisconsin — based on a combination of total new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks and percent change — remained "high" for a second week.

The most new cases per 100,000 residents were in La Crosse, where there were 260. Next came Milwaukee (190), Lafayette (180), Dane (180) and Brown (160).

County ratings as of Wednesday, July 1, were as follows (change in activity level from last week in parentheses):

• High: Brown, Calumet (up), Clark, Columbia (up), Dane, Douglas (up), Dunn (up), Eau Claire, Forest (up), Grant, Iowa (up), Iron (up), Jefferson, Juneau (up), Kenosha, Kewaunee (up), La Crosse, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marathon, Menominee (up), Milwaukee, Monroe, Outagamie, Ozaukee (up), Pierce (up), Portage, Racine, Rock, St. Croix (up), Trempealeau, Walworth, Washington (up), Waukesha, Waupaca, Winnebago
• Medium: Adams, Barron, Buffalo, Chippewa, Crawford, Dodge, Door (up), Florence, Fond du Lac, Green, Green Lake, Jackson, Langlade, Marinette, Marquette, Oconto, Polk, Sauk, Sawyer (up), Shawano, Sheboygan, Taylor, Vernon, Waushara, Wood
• Low: Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Lincoln, Oneida (down), Pepin, Price, Richland, Rusk (down), Vilas, Washburn

Related: What's your Wisconsin county's coronavirus activity level? The state has assigned it a 'high,' 'medium' or 'low' label.

More: Don't expect a face mask requirement or statewide bar closures in Wisconsin, here's why

Contact Matt Piper at (920) 810-7164 or mpiper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @matthew_piper.

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