Average COVID-19 cases jumps back above 1,400 per day

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The average number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded every day in Wisconsin just made its single biggest one-day jump since the most recent surge of positive tests.

On Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average, which health officials rely on to smooth out day-to-day volatility, increased by more than a hundred to 1,461 cases per day over the preceding week, new Department of Health Services numbers show.

This latest pop came after 1,606 new cases were tallied over the previous day. For a one-day total, Tuesday’s count was not an outlier compared to recent weekdays; however, the total number of cases reported over the past three days topped the same stretch last week by more than a thousand cases (3,678 to 2,612), helping drive the rise in the overall average.

Even with the increase, the average remains about two-thirds of what it was during the most recent bump in May, when it reached 2,200 cases per day, following a six-week rise from the lows posted in March. The average also remains close to, but slightly higher than, the average for where it stood for a three-week stretch leading up to the significant two-day dip that preceded the past week’s rise, leaving it to be decided if cases are going to keep rising or are returning to the mean where they stood for most of the past month.