It’s not nearly at the level of November’s thousands of new COVID-19 cases a day in Wisconsin, but a small uptick in cases has state health officials concerned. Wisconsin has improved on its COVID-19 spread since November, when cases peaked and critically-high activity ran rampant. However, the Department of Health Services is warning the public that the rate of vaccinations hasn’t yet relieved the load of high activity in many of the state’s 72 counties.
Declining activity: From critically high to high
COVID-19 activity across Wisconsin has dropped from near-statewide critically high levels in November to a mix of high and medium activity across the state’s 72 counties, according to the latest DHS data.
The last time there was a county marked as red, or critically high activity, was in January. Since then, dark blue–or “very high” counties–have decreased; the last one disappeared near the end of February, around the same time a small handful of counties dipped to low activity for the first time in months.
But for the latest two-week span ending on March 23, the majority of counties across Wisconsin are still marked as having high activity, with most of the rest–except three–in the medium range.
“We have come down from an extremely, critically, uber-high level, over 6,000 cases a day, to the level we’re at today,” DHS deputy secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said in a press conference on Thursday, referencing a few hundred new cases a day currently. “That is still very high.”
Vaccinations: Northern, South Central Wisconsin lead by population percentage
On Friday, Bayfield and Door Counties led Wisconsin in percentage of population getting their first COVID-19 vaccine at 40% or higher. 18 additional counties getting their first dose–nearly all in northern and south central Wisconsin around Dane County–had a rate of 30% or higher. Overall, just two counties–Taylor and Clark–fell below 20% in the state.
With a third variant announced Friday in Wisconsin, health officials are urging people to continue safe practices–like outdoor activities, limited gatherings, and masking–for a little while longer while vaccinations have a chance to ramp up.
“If we can give this just a couple more months of the kind of progress we’re making, I think we’ll be in a much better situation for protecting the whole of us,” Willems Van Dijk said.
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