WI Breaks Record For Daily COVID Cases, State Hopeful With Antiviral Pill Distribution

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin just broke a record as it tallied up more than 11,000 new COVID cases on Thursday, the highest single-day total ever for this state.

Just on Wednesday, the state saw roughly 10,000 new cases.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says the daily rate is 200% higher than it was just two months ago.

The state also recorded 35 new deaths, bringing the total number of people who have died from the virus in the state to more than 10,000.

While the virus is infecting both the vaccinated and unvaccinated, those who have gotten the shots are experiencing less severe symptoms and are not taking up as many beds in the hospital.

“The number of people requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 still is very high right now, higher than it’s ever been,” Dr. Ryan Westergaard, the chief medical officer for Wisconsin, said. “So there’s two sides of the coin. Many more people are getting infected, which the virus, even if it’s a little milder, there tends to be a subset who gets severely ill, and if we have massive increases in the number of people getting infected it’s still going to translate to a lot of people with severe disease in the hospital, particularly people who haven’t been vaccinated and that continues to be what we see in our hospitals.”

As Pfizer’s new COVID treatment pill is being distributed across the country this week, Wisconsin is working on sending it out all over the state.

This will help control symptoms before they become too severe, requiring a trip to the hospital.

“These new medications that are out have a lot of promise to able to prevent severe disease and keep people out of the hospital, so it’s an exciting development,” Dr. Westergaard said. “These are really important tools that can save lives, if we use them in the way that has the highest impact. So just this week we are starting to deliver them to pharmacies around the state.”

The state said that with the supply, it may take a few weeks before enough COVID antiviral pills are available to all who need it, with higher-risk groups getting first priority.