Since Tuesday’s update from the Sheboygan County Division of Public Health, 20 persons have recovered from their bout with COVID-19; in the same period, 18 new cases were recorded, putting the active case count in Sheboygan County at 177. Another person was discharged from the hospital, and the county patient population is now 2. 13,462 cases in all have been recorded here since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago.
One recent case here was identified as the first in Sheboygan County, and the 15th in the state, as the B.1.351 strain first identified in South Africa. As with the first variant strain in the County – the B.1.1.7 first discovered in England – the new variant spreads more easily than the original COVID-19 strain and, according to the Wisconsin DHS, it’s not yet know whether it is more or less severe. There is some evidence that this variant may affect how vaccine-induced antibodies respond to the virus. The South African variant makes up only 0.1% of all cases in Wisconsin.
At least one vaccination shot has now been administered to over 37% of Sheboygan County residents, and nearly one-quarter (23.7%) are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Among those 64 and older, 69.9% are fully vaccinated, by far the largest age group represented. Those 55-64 are next at 23.8%. Those 16-17 years old, having become eligible on April 5th, have had 1.9% fully vaccinated so far.
Wisconsin has now recorded 587,561 cases during the course of the pandemic after another 929 were added on Wednesday. 5 deaths pushe the toll up to 6,695, and another 93 hospitalizations were reported. After deaths and discharges there was no net change in patient population, which is at 317, and 71 of those are in ICU beds. 374 patients are on ventilators.
 |
|
Comments