CDC recommends public indoor masking in 14 counties

Fourteen Wisconsin counties are at the level of COVID-19 trends where federal health officials recommend public indoor masking.

Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Forest, Iron, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Oneida, Rock, Rusk, Sawyer, Vilas, Washburn and Waukesha counties are all classified as having high COVID-19 community levels, according to a Thursday update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thirty counties are at medium levels, where officials recommend those at risk of severe illness consider taking additional precautions. The state’s other 28 counties are at low levels.

In the CDC’s previous update last week, one county was at a high level, 15 were at medium levels and 56 were at low levels.

Statewide, the seven-day average for daily new confirmed cases is 1,576, a single-day decrease of 12 and a seven-day increase of 352, according to Department of Health Services data released Thursday.

DHS reported 1,725 new confirmed cases, for a total of 1,539,069.

The seven-day average for daily new probable cases is 205, and there have been a total of 209,292.

According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, 430 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Thursday, up three from Wednesday and 14 from a week ago.

Sixty-one were in intensive care units, up five from Sunday and three from a week ago.

The seven-day average is two daily deaths. There have been 13,177 confirmed deaths, with one reported Thursday, and 1,673 probable deaths.

Overall, 64.6 percent of Wisconsinites have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 61.4 percent are fully vaccinated and 35 percent have received an additional or booster dose.

Wisconsin vaccinators have administered 9,589,688 COVID-19 vaccine doses, for a seven-day average of 1,049 daily shots.

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Health News daily email newsletter. Sign up for your free trial here.