DHS: 4,034 new COVID-19 cases, 57 more deaths

Health officials reported 4,034 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, for a total of 426,099.

Fifty-seven more deaths brought the death toll to 3,944.

An additional 12,555 Wisconsinites were tested, for a total of 2,650,677.

The Department of Health Services considers 52,259 cases active.

The seven-day average was 3,770 daily new cases and 55 daily new deaths.

As of Wednesday, the seven-day average positivity rate by person was 28.7 percent. By test, it was 12.3 percent.

There were 11 patients at the surge facility in West Allis on Thursday morning.

COVID-19 patients in Wisconsin hospitals fell to 1,484 on Thursday, down 51 from Wednesday and 270 from last week.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units ticked up to 332, a single-day increase of six and down 44 from last week, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said Wisconsin is still seeing “considerable” COVID-19 spread.

“We are a little bit concerned that the decrease in the testing that we have seen coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday may be falsely undercounting our number of new daily cases,” she told reporters.

On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers said he’ll make $3.25 million of federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding available to Wisconsin’s nine ethanol producers.

Ethanol plants in Wisconsin not only drive demand for corn, but also produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct, a critical component for the creation of dry ice.

“Ethanol production is extremely important to a number of supply chains in our state and will be especially critical as we finalize and implement our vaccine distribution plans,” Evers said in a statement.