DHS reports first admission to surge facility, highest daily death toll

The Department of Health Services said Wednesday that the first patient has been admitted to the surge facility in West Allis. The state agency also reported Wisconsin’s highest daily COVID-19 death toll.

The one patient was being cared for as of 11 a.m.

DHS reported 48 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest single-day amount yet. The total number of deaths was 1,681.

There were 4,205 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 182,687. DHS officials have said that positive case counts may be inflated this week due to a backlog of cases that accumulated during an upgrade to the state’s disease surveillance system this weekend.

They’ve encouraged looking at seven-day averages for a more accurate representation. The seven-day average for new daily cases was 3,444. The seven-day average for daily new deaths was 21.

An additional 9,886 people have been tested, for a total 1,901,251.

The seven-day positivity rate per person was 22.6 percent as of Tuesday, and the seven-day positive rate per test was 12.3 percent.