Wisconsin Sees Nearly 600 New Coronavirus Cases; 3 Deaths

Nearly 600 cases of the coronavirus were reported in Wisconsin on Friday and three patients died from the illness, according to the latest numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

On Friday, the state reported 579 new cases of the virus, the second-highest number of total daily confirmed cases over the past seven days, bringing the average number of cases in a seven-day period to 510 cases.

Those between the ages of 20-29 make up the highest share of coronavirus cases by age group with just over 7,000 reported cases or 23 percent of total cases. Those between the ages of 30-39 make up 17 percent of the cases, the 40-49 age group makes up 15 percent of cases and the 50-59 age group makes up 14 percent of total cases.

Ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, health officials urged the public to stay home amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

On Thursday, the Department of Health Services reported that Wisconsin has seen a recent surge in cases with half of all positive cases coming within the past five weeks. Nearly 20 percent of total COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin have tested positive within the past two weeks, they said.

Officials said the spike is driven by an increase in infections among younger people and contact tracing revealed that many cases can be traced back to bars.