Dane Co. average COVID-19 cases per day nearly doubles since last week

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Public health officials in Dane Co. recorded a huge spike in the county’s 14-day rolling average number of new cases per day. According to the latest figures from Public Health Madison & Dane County that number nearly doubled from 170 to 94 cases per day in the past week alone.

In that span, the agency recorded a total of 2,380 cases, more than half (55%) of which came from University Health Services testing. That brought the county’s percent-positive rate to 5.2 percent, well above the three percent reported last week, but well below the 14.3 percent statewide number.

This left Dane Co. ranking in the Dept. of Health Services “high activity” classification for the 13th week in a row.

Just over three-quarters of those recent cases were found in University of Wisconsin-Madison students and staff, with students making up the vast majority, 1,808 to 10 for the UW staff, PHMDC data notes indicate. Nearly 1,400 of the total cases were linked to college-age housing clusters, such as dorms, apartment complexes with 10 or more cases, and fraternities and sororities.

The number of members of UW sports teams who have tested positive rose to 50, from the 42 reported earlier this week.

Health officials have spoken to more than 2,200 of the infected individuals and approximately two-thirds were able to determine where they likely caught the virus.

Of the 2,202 people PHMDC has interviewed, it found 13 of them were infected at child care facilities, including seven children.

Other cases were found in:

• Health care facilities: 22
• Workplaces: 12, two of which were public facing
• Congregate facilities: 8
• UW facilities, e.g. dining halls: 8
• Restaurants and bars: 7
• Weddings: 5
• Churches: 4
• Other clusters: 3

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