How WI Is Weathering Pandemic: See New Weekly Virus Data

A new batch of data from the White House is giving a fresh snapshot into how Wisconsin is handling the pandemic, and how the state compares to other states across the country.

Under the previous administration, the White House COVID-19 Team compiled weekly reports tracking pandemic growth in each individual state, but the reports were kept private. On Wednesday, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar confirmed over twitter that, going forward, the data would be shared publicly.

Here's a look at how Wisconsin fared on its first State Profile Report:

Note that, while the report was first released Wednesday, the data below represents cases from the 7-day week ending Sunday, Jan 24.

The report from the White House shows how the state is faring in the rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, test positivity rates and total lab tests. The metrics compiled by the federal government show how the state is faring compared to the country at large.

For the week starting Jan. 24, the rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 was down 27 percent from the previous week with 243 cases per 100,000. That's less than the nationwide average of 381 cases per 100,000.

The test positive rate is also down compared to the previous week and is lower than the nationwide average of 10.6 percent.

However, the death rate per 100,000 is close to the nationwide average with Wisconsin having 6.3 deaths per 100,000 residents for the week of Jan. 24 and the nationwide average being 6.5.

When it comes to hospitalizations, the state is still below the national average with 14 out of 100 hospital beds being occupied. The national rate stands at 20 out of 100 beds.

However, the percentage of hospitals with supply and staff shortages are both higher than the national figures. In Wisconsin, 26 percent of hospitals have supply shortages and 19 percent have staff shortages. Nationally, those figures are 21 percent and 18 percent respectively.

Red Zone Counties

The report from the White House also divides counties into red, orange and yellow zones. The counties are sorted into the various zones based on the number of new cases in the past three weeks.

According to the data as of Jan.24, the number of counties in the red and orange zones have decreased.

Here's how each county is sorted:

Red zone: Jefferson, Monroe, Dunn, Juneau, Oneida, Vilas, Kewaunee, Buffalo, Washburn, Sawyer, Lafayette, Ashland

At least 13 counties moved out of the red zone compared to the previous week.

Orange zone: Waukesha, Racine, Outagamie, Kenosha, Rock, Winnebago, Washington, Marathon, Walworth, Sheboygan, Eau Claire, Ozaukee

At least one county moved out of the orange zone compared to the previous week.

Yellow zone: Milwaukee, Brown, La Crosse, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, St. Croix, Dodge, Waupaca, Columbia, Calumet, Sauk, Polk

At least 12 counties moved into the yellow zone compared to the previous week.

Finally, the report ranks all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, based on their number of new cases per every 100,000 residents. In that ranking, Wisconsin comes in 38th.

All 52 profile reports for all U.S. states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rick can be found here. They will be updated weekly.