Wis COVID cases stay low, vaccinations up, and more places to get your shots

Things continue to mostly look up on the COVID front in Wisconsin. Dan Shafer has a good summary of how it has progressed over at The Recombobulation Area.

The 7-day average for new cases in the state of Wisconsin dropped below 400.

Covid hospitalizations dropped below 200, the lowest they’ve been since the first week of April 2020. They peaked on Nov. 17 at 2,277, with 456 people in the ICU with the deadly virus.

Daily deaths have finally fallen to a 7-day average of six per day. On Dec. 7, that number was 61.

Along with the cases being limited, the state is making headway toward lowering the number of people susceptible to the virus, as vaccinations continue to rise. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says we reached a new high last week, with more than 300,000 shots administered.

Shafer points out that the groups that were most vulnerable to COVID complications are the ones where the largest amount of progress has been made on the vaccination fronts.

What we’re also seeing as a result of this vaccination success story is how it is also making a difference in the larger covid numbers in Wisconsin.

In early March, nursing homes reported a 97% decline in new cases since vaccinations began. Those numbers for 65+ Wisconsinites have continued to drop, and are now at the lowest rate among any age group in the state. During the week of March 14, just [171] state residents over 65 tested positive for covid.

Well, we hope it's drastically reducing the cases in nursing homes. There was a story last week that noted around 1,000 more COVID deaths in Wisconsin were attributed to people living in nursing homes, as more information was gathered on the prior living settings of those who have been killed by COVID.

But Shafer's point stands, as nearly 1/2 of Wisconsinites aged 65+ have completed their vaccine cycle. However, not everybody has been getting those shots, particularly African-Americans and Hispanics in Wisconsin, who DHS says is receiving shots at less than 1/3 the rate of white Wisconsinites, and less than 1/2 of Native Americans.

Which helps explain why Milwaukee opened up new vaccination clinics in heavily African-American and Hispanic parts of town today.

A line more than 50 people long formed outside North Division High School Monday morning before a new community COVID-19 vaccination site was set to open its doors there at 10 a.m.

Some brought folding chairs in preparation for a wait.

“To come here at 9:30 a.m. and see almost 50 people in line … is warming for me because it lets me know that we’re doing the right thing and allowing folks to get vaccinated and opening up the availability,” County Executive David Crowley said at a press conference outside the school Monday morning.

The site was one of two walk-in vaccination clinics, along with South Division High School, to open in Milwaukee Monday for residents of 10 ZIP codes that rank high in vulnerability to disasters such as the pandemic.

BUT let's not forget that even with all of the positive news in regards to COVID in this state, you'll notice that the number of new cases has leveled off at around 400 a day over the last 2 weeks.

And with Spring Breaks happening and far too many people deciding to party in Flor-duhhh to make up for the limits that the COVID World put on so many of us in the last year, let's stay smart and vigilant, and keep those shots coming for the next few months before we declare victory over the virus, OK?