New COVID-19 cases hit 6-month low; vaccinations lowest since 2020

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - New confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin have not been this low in more than a half a year. On Monday, the state’s seven-day rolling-average dipped to its lowest point since August as the single-day total for Monday dropped below 500 cases.

New Dept. of Health Services numbers show state health officials tallied 443 new cases, fewer than any day since Sept. 11, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. That allowed the seven-day rolling-average, which smooths out day-to-day volatilities, to fall to 1,135 cases per day over the past week.

The state’s rolling average was ten times higher than it is now in mid-January – and that’s before case counts were driven even higher because of DHS’ efforts to clear a backlog that developed because of the influx of new cases. The average has now fallen every day for more than a month.

With the latest cases, the total number positive tests recorded in Wisconsin has reached 1,376,791 since the pandemic began.

While cases are declining to points not seen in months, vaccinations have also dropped to points not seen – effectively ever. Fewer than 20,000 vaccination doses were delivered to Wisconsin residents last week. That’s lower than any other week since the very first week vaccines were available, and they were still limited to first responders.

Notably, the difference between that first week and the most recent one isn’t even that much. In that first week, the week of Dec. 13, 2020, the state delivered 11,285 doses to health care workers. Last week, health officials reported giving 17,256 shots, which would include both first and second doses, if necessary. Obviously, there were no second doses given that first week.

The dropping number of vaccinations has left the statewide vaccination rate stuck in the 60 percent range.

While not falling as fast – or as steadily – as the case numbers, the death rate from COVID-19 has continued its sown steady decline. On Monday, the seven-day rolling-average for deaths dropped to 11 per day over the past week, in line with where that figure stood in early November before starting to tick up over the next two months.

According to DHS figures, 11,739 people have died from COVID-19 or complications related to the virus since the pandemic began.