COVID-19 Wisconsin
COVID-19 levels and hospitalizations remain high where more than half of state residents live
One-third of Wisconsin counties have high community levels of COVID-19, a federal designation that carries a recommendation for universal masking indoors away from home. Those counties are home to more than half of Wisconsin residents and range from major metropolitan areas to much smaller and lesser-populated parts of the state. The Centers for Disease Control […]
Masking recommended again as COVID-19 rises anew in Wisconsin
Nearly 2.6 million Wisconsin residents live in counties where COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations are high enough that federal guidelines call for everyone to wear masks indoors away from home. Sixteen counties in the state, including the three most populous, have a “high community level” of COVID-19 under standards set by the Centers for Disease Control […]
COVID-19 cases rise again, tripling in the last month
A new COVID-19 surge is underway in Wisconsin, with the average number of new cases per day now three times what it was a month ago. So far, however, hospitalizations have remained low in the aftermath of a massive spike at the beginning of 2022. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), as […]
Public health providers hope testing wastewater will alert them to next COVID-19 spike
As COVID-19 cases continue to ease in Wisconsin and public health officials cast a wary eye toward the possibility of a new increase, tracking the virus in wastewater is taking on new importance. “It can kind of give us a kind of an early peek … at what we may be seeing later on, with […]
DHS: Wastewater shows COVID increase, but significance not yet certain
Concentrations of the virus responsible for COVID-19 in wastewater in some Wisconsin cities have been increasing, state health officials confirmed Tuesday, but the significance of that development isn’t clear. Wastewater virus testing “has been shown to be a leading indicator of cases,” according Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services (DHS), […]
New COVID-19 mask guidelines focus on individual judgment over mandates
New federal guidelines on community levels of COVID-19 and whether and when people should wear masks for protection are forcing public health providers to rethink recommendations for individuals and communities. The new guidelines emphasize individual decisions rather than public health orders. Nevertheless, they can still be used to encourage communities and groups to adopt shared […]
While requirements end, health officials say masks remain an important protection
COVID-19 mask requirements are ending in the only two jurisdictions that required them, but public health officials said Tuesday they would still encourage some people — especially those who are more vulnerable to the novel coronavirus — to continue wearing masks in public spaces to prevent the virus from spreading. Mask orders in Dane County […]
COVID-19 continues decline, remains ‘critically high’ across state
COVID-19 cases are now shrinking dramatically in number, the state health department reported Thursday, but the spread of the coronavirus remains critically high across the state and hospitals continue to be under stress. On average there have been about 4,700 new cases a day for the last seven days, said Deb Standridge, deputy secretary for […]
COVID numbers ease, but public health officials warn they are still too high
Infections, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are all declining, but the spread of the coronavirus still remains extremely high, according to public health providers. The seven-day average of new cases reported per day dropped to 5,562 statewide as of Monday, the Department of Health Services (DHS) reported — less than one-third of the most recent […]
COVID-19 numbers skyrocket, but ‘we’re likely near our peak’
After a series of record-breaking COVID-19 reports, Wisconsin’s case numbers have eased in recent days, although they remain well above the peak in the first year of the pandemic. The recent spike in numbers was the result of the continuing spread of the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But it also reflected a change […]
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to soar
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 reached a new peak in Dane County, officials said Tuesday, while in Wisconsin as a whole, it reached a number just short of the record set 14 months ago. The number of people in Dane County hospitals with COVID-19 was at an all-time high of 184 on Monday, […]
State breaks new COVID record, announces health care help
For the second day in a row, Wisconsin reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases, with 11,574 added to the state’s rolls on Thursday. That follows a previous record, 10,288 new cases that were reported on Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health Services (DHS) The new surge is driven by the fast-spreading […]