by Kevin Zimmermann
SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) – After a several-days pause, positive test returns for COVID-19 are again on record at Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution. 64 more cases reported there on Wednesday raise the total within that population to 696. 72 other residents of Sheboygan County also received positive test returns since Tuesday, adding 136 to a total which now stands at 3,118 cases since the coronavirus arrived here this past March. 390 tests came back negative, setting the positive return rate at 25.85%. Of the new record 552 cases now active within the county, 11 are hospitalized. Another 25 persons recovered from their bout with the disease.
Wisconsin added another 3,107 positive test returns for COVID-19 in the last 24-hours. With 11,435 negative results, the positive test return rate was 21.36%. 28 individuals have died of the disease since Monday’s report, raising the death toll to 1,536. 153 persons were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19.
As of the latest hospital data published by the state DHS, which was current on Tuesday the 13th, 959 persons were in hospitals around the state with confirmed cases of COVID-19. 243 of those were in the ICU, while another 239 persons were hospitalized for suspected – but as yet unconfirmed – cases of COVID-19. 435 persons are on ventilators.
The Sheboygan County Division of Public Health, in its daily update on Wednesday, indicated that beginning on Monday, October 19th, the reporting of results and cases will be fully aligned with the Wisconsin State Department of Health Services. When local response began reporting its statistics in March, so-called “county level” data was not being reported by the state DHS. Now that the state is able to incorporate the county level data, a transition to a standard reporting format will be implemented.
The major impact of this change would appear to be related to “per test” versus “per person” negative test results. Currently, 3 negative tests done on the same person during the pandemic so far would be counted as 3 negative results when compiling the stats. Under the new system, this would be a “per person” metric, and so the 3 tests would count only as one negative person. This would avoid skewing the data due to the same persons being tested often. This approach has been endorsed by Johns Hopkins University, which operates a COVID dashboard that has become a go-to national resource on the pandemic.
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