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Wisconsin DHS reports another record-breaking day of new COVID-19 cases

Posted at 2:15 PM, Nov 18, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-18 17:05:45-05

Wisconsin health officials have reported another record-breaking day of new COVID-19 cases.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported7,989 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, breaking the state's previous single-day record of 7,777 new cases set on Nov. 13.

The seven-day average number of COVID-19 cases also continues to rise. DHS reported a seven-day average of 6,563, a record. That number has increased to a new high almost every day since September.

Meanwhile, the two types of percent positivity have seen a decline since last week. The DHS reports a seven-day percent positive (by test) of 16.9, and a seven-day percent positive (by person) of 34.7. Both of those percents have declined each day since last Thursday, suggesting either there remains a backlog of cases from over the weekend, or a surge in testing is going on hand-in-hand with the number of tests coming back positive.

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On Wednesday, the DHS recorded 52 new deaths caused by complications from the virus. Although below the record number of deaths set on Tuesday, at 92, Thursday's numbers raise the seven-day average number of deaths caused by COVID-19 to 48.

In total, the state has more than 331,837 confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 254,000 people have recovered from the virus, and at least 74,000 people currently have the virus, DHS numbers show.

On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers said he planned on issuing a new state of emergency order and extending the state's mask mandate until 2021. The new order comes as officials warn the state is running out of ICU bends.

“We are filling our intensive care units. Over the past week, hospitals have reported nine of our ICUs at 100 percent capacity. There are zero ICU beds available in one region of our state, and nine ICU beds in another," said DHS Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm during a briefing on Wednesday.

Of the 15,100 people hospitalized, DHS said 19% of them are in the ICU. Only nine percent of the state's ICU beds are currently available, DHS said.

Wisconsin is running out of Intensive Care Unit beds, DHS Secretary-designee Palm says

As of Wednesday, there were 22 patients being treated at the Alternate Care Facility at State Fair Park.

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