Covid-19 in Wisconsin – As of July 7, 2020

Last week, I sent out an update on Covid-19 in Wisconsin to help dispel some of the media hype and provide some context on the situation in our state.  Today, I want to share additional information on the disease in our state and the 11^th State Senate District.

Currently, we have a statewide testing capacity of 19,014 samples daily with 80 labs already in service according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS).  Since we have never exceeded 14,000 samples processed in any given 24-hour period, there is excess capacity to process even more samples on a daily basis.  Our total capacity is set to increase again very soon with the news that 27 more labs are preparing to join the system.

A total of 633,568 people have been tested for Covid-19 in Wisconsin since March with 601,012 tests coming back negative and 32,556 people testing positive.  A total of 3,639 people have been hospitalized due to Covid-19 since March with 254 people currently hospitalized statewide as of July 7, 2020.  Our daily hospitalization high of 432 people occurred in April and has steadily declined since that time.  On a daily basis, Wisconsin hospitals have about 11,500 beds available for patients on a statewide basis and can add an additional 1,500 beds for overflow purposes, if necessary. 

In the last month, we have seen a shift in positive cases among age groups with the most cases (24%) now coming from individuals in the 20-29 age category in Wisconsin.  This increase has been heavily influenced by numbers from Milwaukee and Dane Counties during the month of June.  Growing evidence suggests that the increase in the 20-29 age group was driven by the protests and clusters connected to high density in certain bars in both counties.

Even though we have seen an increase in Covid-19 cases in Wisconsin, the new cases over the last few weeks have not caused any stress on our hospitals.  As cited above, the 20-29 age group is accounting for more positive tests, but in terms of hospitalizations only 3% of the cases in that age group require that level of medical intervention.

Of the 32,556 people in Wisconsin that have tested positive for Covid-19 only 3,639 (11% of positive tests) have been hospitalized at some point since March 2020. 

The 11^th State Senate District includes all of Walworth County, the southern-half of Jefferson County, the eastern third of Rock County, the southwestern corner of Waukesha County, one township in Kenosha County and a small area of southwestern Racine County.

As of July 7, 2020, the following are some of the data points relating to Covid-19 in the counties that are a part of the 11th Senate District:

The bottom line is that the people of Wisconsin are dealing with a virus that is with us permanently and will be a significant factor in our daily lives through at least 2021.  There is only a slim chance of a vaccine being discovered that fully prevents Covid-19 infections in humans.  There is a greater probability of a vaccine(s) being developed that provides some benefits of immunity and lessening symptoms, but even this possibility is relatively low when looking at the efforts in developing a vaccine to fight other corona viruses.

I am confident the people of Wisconsin can make reasonable decisions for themselves in adapting to the risks presented by a virus that is with us permanently.  The overwhelming majority of businesses in Wisconsin have been operating prudently and voluntarily implementing appropriate safety measures.

I believe government officials should focus on cooperative approaches with the public and refrain from excessive government mandates certain to create a backlash from the citizens of Wisconsin.