119 more hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wisconsin; 7-day positivity rate drops to 22.9%

MADISON, Wis. — More than 100 people in Wisconsin have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past day, according to the state Department of Health Services.

DHS officials said 119 more people were hospitalized between Tuesday and Wednesday. Out of the state’s nearly 11,000 hospital beds, 17% are available for new patients. At least 5,655* Wisconsinites have died of coronavirus complications to date, with 53 new deaths confirmed Wednesday.

The seven-day positivity rate for new tests by person has gone down by 1 percentage point to 22.9%. The seven-day equivalent for total tests by day has also continued on a downward trend, with Wednesday’s percentage at 7.2%.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the DHS website has not updated the most recent total for COVID-19 vaccine doses administered.

State and county health officials recorded 1,504* new cases of the virus. The state has reached a lifetime total of 526,259* confirmed cases, and roughly 24,000, or 4.5% of those cases remain active.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday has challenged Dane County’s indoor gathering ban and the restrictions public health officials have put in place.

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*News 3 Now uses data from DHS and county dashboards to calculate daily cases and deaths. DHS posts new numbers daily at 2 p.m., and our newsroom continues to update our totals throughout the day with additional cases that individual counties report. By using a combination of state and county data, News 3 Now is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date COVID-19 coverage.