Another week of COVID making things worse throughout Wisconsin

In a week where the country continued to set records for new COVID-19 cases and is back at 1,100 deaths a day, Wisconsin is doing even worse than most places in America.

The Wausau-Weston area is the 8th worst metropolitan area for COVID-19 right now, and it's not the only Wisconsin city listed. https://t.co/iEYO1PA17H

— News 9 WAOW (@WAOW) November 12, 2020

The state of COVID-19 in WI in 3 facts:

We hit 100,000 cases In 7 months.
We hit 200,000 cases 36 days later.
We hit 300,000 cases just 18 days after that.

Bonus Fact: Sunday will mark 7 months of inaction from Republican-led legislature. https://t.co/krB9Ji8cWv

— A Better Wisconsin (@ABetterWis) November 13, 2020

7/9 11-20th most infected counties in WI:
County (cases/100k residents)
Langlade (6750)
Outagamie (6532)
Waushara (6494)
Waupaca (6255)
Sheboygan (6246)
Florence (6107)
Marinette (5990)
Marquette (5833)
Milwaukee (5810)
Marathon (5797)

— Jay Bullock Thanksgiving Pun (@folkbum) November 14, 2020

There were 8 times as many new COVID cases in Wisconisin last week than there was in the week before Labor Day, and over 1 in 3 people that were tested in the state last week ended up being positive for the virus.

Worse than those increases in infections is what has come with a 3-4 week lag after the infections start - jumps in hospitalizations, which are straining the capacities of our health systems. This was already the case in outstate Wisconsin by October, but it has gotten worse in November and now COVID is filling hospitals in the most-populated reigons of the state.

And given the trajectory of new cases, there's no reason to think that the strains on the state's hospitals will end any time soon. Likewise, deaths also continue to rise in Wisconsin, where 2,625 fatalities have been attributed to COVID so far, with nearly half of those coming October and November.

There's not much good to find these days on the COVID front, which is a big reason why most schools in the UW System are going all-virtual for classes after Thanksgiving, and saying if students go home in 2 weeks for that holiday, they should stay home. And it certainly seems wise for Wisconsinites to limit their chances of exposure, both at work and in their personal lives.

Which makes it all the more urgent for there to be action taken at the state level to try to help us through the increased perils to health and the economy that are happening (since the Feds aren't doing anything). Which makes it all the critical to look at what Governor Evers may reveal this week to deal with the worsening pandemic, and to put the heat on a WisGOP Leguislature that has been far too satisfied to do nothing as more people continue to be afflicted by this disease.