DHS: 4,618 new COVID-19 cases, 60 more deaths

Wisconsin reported 4,618 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, for a total of 399,708.

Sixty more deaths were reported. The state’s death toll is now at 3,562.

An additional 11,972 people were tested, for a total of 2,569,678.

The Department of Health Services considers 64,646 cases active.

The seven-day average for daily new cases is 3,595, and the seven-day average for daily new deaths is 46.

As of Wednesday, the seven-day average positivity rate by person was 31.7 percent, and the seven-day average positivity rate by test was 13.7 percent.

There were eight patients at the surge facility in West Allis as of Thursday morning.

COVID-19 hospitalizations were at 1,745 Thursday, down 26 from Wednesday and 85 from the same point last week.

There were 376 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, a decline of 21 from Wednesday and down 47 from last week, per the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

“Considering the recent holiday and our lower testing rate, it is too early to know if this downward trajectory will stay the course,” DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm told reporters.

Palm said 34 percent of hospitals in the state report a current critical staffing shortage and 40 percent project that they will have a shortage within a week.