MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Wisconsin broke its single-day record for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday as other metrics continued to fall.
The state Department of Health Services reported 120 new deaths, topping the previous record of 107 on Dec. 1. Over the past week, an average of 60 people a day have died of virus-related complications.
Meanwhile, DHS reported 2,403 new cases, or 35.1% of the 6,852 total tests completed. The seven-day average of new cases moved to 2,659 new cases, the lowest level since Oct. 12. The seven-day average test positivity was 26.2%.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 461,015 total cases, more than 2.3 million negative tests and 4,545 deaths. DHS lists 421,506 people as having recovered from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
As of Tuesday, there were three patients at the alternate care facility near Milwaukee, the same number as on Monday.
Hospitalizations also fell on Tuesday. The Wisconsin Hospital Association said its members were treating 1,274 total COVID-19 patients, down 34 from Monday and 187 from a week earlier. Of those, 281 were in intensive care, an increase of nine in a day but a decrease of 50 in a week.
Northeast region hospitals said they were treating 100 COVID-19 patients, down five from Monday and seven from a week earlier. There were 25 in ICUs, a drop of two in a day and one in a week. In the Fox Valley region, hospitalizations rose by three over Monday to 69, which was a drop of 17 over a week. Of those, 17 were in ICUs, down one from Monday and eight from a week earlier.
