Delta variant accounts for 79% of COVID-19 samples tested in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wisconsin (WBAY) – For eight consecutive days, the number of people receiving a dose of COVID-19 vaccine for the first time outnumbered the number of people completing their vaccine series.

Figures released to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) show that 3,014,909 Wisconsin residents have now received a COVID-19 vaccine, 5,953 more than the day before. That’s 51.8% of the state’s population, including 62.6% of the adult population – 66.1% female and 58.4% male.

Of these, 2,867,737 Wisconsinites completed the vaccination schedule, receiving two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That’s 3,589 more people than what was reported on Wednesday and represents 49.3% of the state’s population, nearly 60% of whom are adults (59.8%).

Hispanic adults are catching up with non-Hispanics quickly: 55.5% of Hispanics over 18 received at least one dose of the vaccine compared to 59.5% of non-Hispanic adults. The state says 50.8% of the Hispanic adult population is fully vaccinated compared to 57.1% of non-Hispanic adults.

DHS has brought back 899 additional coronavirus tests, bringing the total infected to 619,921 since the first case in 2020. The positivity rate has jumped half a percent, from 5.3% to 5.8 %. This is the average of all tests that have come back positive in the past 7 days and is an indicator of the spread of the virus in the state. Wisconsin has an average of 556 new cases per day – a big jump in that 7-day moving average from the 478 cases per day on Wednesday).

Three other deaths from COVID-19 have been reported to the state, including 2 deaths in Fond du Lac County. Two of the three deaths occurred in the past month and are counted towards the 7-day average, which remains at 2 deaths per day. The death rate remains 1.20% of known cases of coronavirus. Since March 2020, 7,436 people have died from the COVID-19 virus.

In the past day, 55 people have been admitted to hospitals for COVID-19. According to our calculations, there are an average of 43 hospitalizations per day. The state has a total of 33,189 people who have already been hospitalized for COVID-19, or 5.35% of known cases. We will get figures from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) later this afternoon that takes into account discharges and deaths, but as of Wednesday there were 195 COVID-19 patients statewide, including 58 in intensive care. The Northeast and Fox Valley healthcare regions each had 11 COVID-19 patients. There were 5 in intensive care in hospitals in the North East region, while there were none in intensive care in the valley.

DHS says the delta variant has become the predominant strain of the COVID-19 virus in Wisconsin. the State Hygiene Laboratory says delta accounted for 78.7% of samples tested so far this month, up from 27.9% of samples in June.

DHS says there were 99.7 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people in Wisconsin between July 7 and July 27. In other words, 1 in 1,000 people in Wisconsin has tested positive in the past two weeks.

Viral activity is high in 57 counties and moderate in 15. There are no counties where the spread of the virus is low. This is a big change from four weeks ago, when only two counties had high viral activity. Activity level is high in all counties in the WBAY observation area except Door, Kewaunee, Langlade, Menominee and Waushara, where it is moderate. A county’s activity level is based on the number of new cases per capita and the trajectory, or percentage change, of cases in previous weeks.

DHS says that this year through July 22, more than 98% of the state’s COVID-19 cases were from people who were not fully vaccinated. These include people who have never been vaccinated, who received the first but not the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or who became infected within two weeks of receiving their last dose and before they were it does not take full effect. People who have received a vaccine are more likely to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. Even people who have recovered from COVID-19 are encouraged to get vaccinated. DHS says a previous infection with COVID-19 does not protect against delta or other variants.

About 46% of the American population lives in a community CDC considers ‘high’ transmission of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend masks for everyone inside in communities where the delta variant is prevalent, even if you are vaccinated.

VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY POPULATION (THURSDAY)

Population of Wisconsin vaccinated, by age group (and change since Tuesday)

• 12-15: 33.3% received one dose (+0.3) / 28.5% completed (+0.1)
• 16-17: 42.4% received one dose (+0.2) / 38.5% completed (+0.1)
• 18-24: 44.4% received one dose (+0.1) / 40.8% completed (+0.1)
• 25-34: 48.9% received one dose (+0.1) / 45.8% completed (+0.1)
• 35-44: 56.8% received one dose (+0.1) / 53.8% completed (+0.1)
• 45-54: 59.0% received one dose (+0.1) / 56.2% completed (+0.1)
• 55-64: 69.2% received one dose (+0.1) / 66.6% completed (+0.1)
• 65+: 83.8% received one dose (+0.1) / 81.7% completed (+0.0)

Health departments and school districts have urged parents to start immunizing children 12 and older before school. Health officials note that vaccinating older children can protect younger siblings who are too young to be vaccinated as well as other family members and friends. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine to date approved for children aged 12 to 17. A second dose is needed 3 weeks later, and it takes two weeks after that to take full effect.

CDC recommend face masks in K-12 schools for students, teachers, staff and visitors, regardless of their immunization status. Recently, Appleton area public schools and St. Mary’s Catholic Schools said they plan to make the mask optional at the start of the new school year. Public schools in the Green Bay area have decided to make masks optional for years 7 to 12 but will continue to require them for young children up to grade 6, as many of them are too young to be eligible for a vaccine. The Green Bay Area Catholic Education System (GRACE) indicates that the wearing of the mask will be left to each school and to parents. Neenah school board voted Tuesday evening to make masks optional.

On Tuesday, the DHS website removed the number of active and recovered cases – these are people diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus in the past 30 days or survived beyond 30 days. The latest report released on Monday said 1% of cases were active and 98% were considered cured. Health officials long ago recognized that the “recovered” cases included people with long-term health effects from their infection, the so-called “long-haul” ones.

CASE AND DEATH RATE IN THURSDAY COUNTY (counties with new cases or deaths are shown in bold) **

• Brown – 32 153 cases (+33) (259 deaths)
• Calumet – 5,892 cases (+4) (51 deaths)
• Dickinson (Mich.) * – 2,432 cases (59 deaths)
• Dodge – 12,113 crates (+17) (177 deaths)
• Porte – 2,646 cases (30 deaths)
• Florence – 458 cases (13 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 12,718 squares (+17) (133 deaths) (+2)
• Forest – 979 cases (24 deaths)
• Gogebic (Mich.) * – 1,083 cases (24 deaths)
• Lac Vert – 1,632 cases (+2) (21 deaths)
• Iron (Michigan) * – 1,004 cases (43 deaths)
• Kewaunee – 2,389 cases (+1) (28 deaths)
• Langlade – 2,059 cases (35 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 7,687 cases (+4) (76 deaths)
• Marinette – 4,254 cases (+2) (68 deaths)
• Menominee (Mich.) * – 1,806 cases (41 deaths)
• Menominee – 808 cases (+2) (11 deaths)
• Oconto – 4,569 cases (+4) (63 deaths)
• Outagamy – 20,986 cases (+11) (225 deaths)
• Shawano – 4,803 cases (+3) (73 deaths)
• Sheboygan – 13,989 cases (+8) (154 deaths)
• Waupaca – 5,015 cases (+2) (123 deaths)
• Waushara – 2,231 cases (+1) (35 deaths)
• Winnebago – 18,523 cases (+21) (203 deaths)

* The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Hospital Association do not issue updates on weekends. The Michigan Department of Health only updates the information on Tuesdays and Fridays.

** Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The Wisconsin DHS reports cases of all health departments within a county, including tribal, municipal, and county health departments; county websites cannot. Additionally, public health departments update their data at different times, while DHS freezes the numbers it receives at the same time each day to compile the afternoon report.

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