COVID-19: Wisconsin Summary Data

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• COVID-19

Jump to specific COVID-19 chart on this page:

• Wisconsin summary statistics
• 7-day percent positive by test, total tests by day
• Cases and deaths maps by county and census tract, municipality, school district, and zip code
• Learn how to download our data

Understanding our data: What does this chart mean?

Case activity: This section provides an overview of counties in Wisconsin based on COVID-19 case activity levels. Case activity is a metric that combines case burden (rate per 100,000 people) and trajectory (percent case change). Confirmed case activity is an important starting metric to understand current COVID-19 levels in your community. This section is updated weekly on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

See more: Covid 19 wisconsin

Vaccines: This section provides a snapshot of COVID-19 vaccination progress in Wisconsin. The top number shows the percent of all Wisconsin residents who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including those who have received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The bottom number displays the percent of all Wisconsin residents who have completed their vaccine series. For the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, that means receiving two doses and for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, that means receiving just one dose.

Testing:

• New confirmed cases: This presents the trend over time in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Wisconsin. The number in this section represents the current 7-day average of new confirmed cases reported per day. You can hover over the line graph to see the average number of new confirmed cases over the previous 7 days.
• New probable cases: This presents the trend over time in the number of probable COVID-19 cases reported in Wisconsin. The number in this section represents the current 7-day average of new probable cases reported per day. You can hover over the line graph to see the average number of new probable cases over the previous 7 days. For more information on how probable cases are defined, please see the “About our data” section.
• Percent positive by test: This section shows the trend over time in the percent of all confirmatory COVID-19 tests that are positive, averaged over the previous 7-day period. You can hover over the line graph to see previous percentages of all positive tests, averaged over the previous 7-day period. No antigen or antibody test results are included in this figure.

When calculating percent positive by test, people are counted each time they are included. If people tested positive or negative more than once, they are included and counted each time on the date the testing lab reports their test results.

Deaths:

• Total confirmed deaths: This shows the cumulative total number of deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin.
• Total probable deaths: This shows the cumulative total number of deaths among probable cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. For more information on how deaths among probable cases are defined, please see the “About our data” section.
• New deaths reported: This section provides the current 7-day average of newly reported deaths. You can hover over the line graph to see the daily number of newly reported deaths, including a breakdown of confirmed and deaths among probable cases. Deaths associated with COVID-19 must be reported by health care providers or medical examiners/coroners, and recorded in the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS) by local health departments, a process which takes time. Therefore, the most recent day’s data may be incomplete due to a lag in death reporting. Newly reported deaths that occurred more than 30 days ago will not be included in new deaths. However, all deaths regardless of when they occurred, are included in the total confirmed deaths.

Please note:

• January 15-17, 2022: The WEDSS system was updated to allow for auto-importing of positive tests. Daily case numbers for this period were elevated due to processing the backlog of records.
• May 27, 2021: This visualization is using an updated data file that allows corrections due to quality assurance to be counted on the day when a case or death was first reported, rather than affecting the current daily cases or deaths. The new historical data file behind this improved method is available for download in the “Download our data” section.
• October 16-18, 2020: The WEDSS system underwent routine maintenance and enhancements. Due to this temporary pause in reporting, multiple days of data were uploaded at once, affecting the single day count for the visualizations during that time.

About our data: How do we measure this?

Data source: Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS).

Read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how cases of COVID-19 are reported in WEDSS.

Every morning by 9 a.m., we extract the data from WEDSS that will be reported on the DHS website at 2 p.m. These numbers are the official DHS numbers. Counties may report their own case and death counts on their own websites. Because WEDSS is a live system that constantly accepts data, case and death counts on county websites will differ from the DHS counts if the county extracted data from WEDSS at a different time of day. Please consult the county websites to determine what time of day they pull data from WEDSS. Combining the DHS and local totals will result in inaccurate totals.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19: Unless otherwise specified, the data described here are confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to WEDSS. Cases are classified using the national case definition established by the CDC. Confirmed cases are those that have positive results from diagnostic, confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) that detect genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Illnesses with only positive antigen or positive antibody test results do not meet the definition of confirmed and are not included in the number of confirmed cases.

COVID-19 deaths: Unless otherwise specified, COVID-19 deaths reported on the DHS website are deaths among confirmed cases of COVID-19 that meet the vital records criteria set forth by the CDC and Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) case definition. Those are deaths that have a death certificate that lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as an underlying cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. Deaths associated with COVID-19 must be reported by health care providers or medical examiners/coroners, and recorded in WEDSS by local health departments in order to be counted as a COVID-19 death. Deaths among people with COVID-19 that were the result of non-COVID reasons (e.g., accident, overdose, etc.) are not included as a COVID-19 death. For more information see the FAQ page.

Probable cases of COVID-19 and deaths among probable cases. Some visualizations include the option of including information on probable cases of COVID-19 and deaths among probable cases of COVID-19. Cases are classified using the national case definition established by the CDC and the CSTE. A person is counted as a probable* case of COVID-19 if they are not positive by a confirmatory laboratory test method (for example, a PCR, or NAT test), but have met one of the following:

1. Test positive using an antigen test method.
2. Have symptoms of COVID-19 AND known exposure to COVID-19 (for example, being a close contact of someone who was diagnosed with COVID-19) and no molecular or antigen test was performed.
3. COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 is listed on the death certificate.

*Prior to August 19, 2020, probable cases also included those that had a positive antibody test which detects COVID-19 antibodies in the blood. For more details on this transition, see the CDC’s statement.

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Deaths among probable cases are those that meet one of the following criteria:

• A probable case of COVID-19 is reported to have died from causes related to COVID-19.
• A death certificate that lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as an underlying cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death is reported to DHS but WEDSS has no record of confirmatory laboratory evidence for SARS-CoV-2.

Data shown are subject to change. For more information see the FAQ page. As individual cases are investigated by public health, there may be corrections to the status and details of cases that result in changes to this information. Some examples of corrections or updates that may result in the case or death counts going up or down, include:

• Update or correction of case’s address, resulting in a change to their location of residence to another county or state
• Correction to laboratory result
• Correction to a case’s status from confirmed to unconfirmed (for example, if they were marked as confirmed because a blood test detecting antibodies was positive instead of a test detecting the virus causing COVID-19)
• De-duplication or merging and consolidation of case records
• Update of case’s demographic information from missing or unknown to complete information

For information on testing, see: COVID-19, testing criteria section.

We plan to update our data Monday through Friday by 2 p.m.

Back to a list of charts on this page.

7-day percent positive by test, total tests by day

Understanding our data: What does this chart mean?

This graph shows the number of positive (dark blue bars) and negative tests (gray bars) on the date the test result is posted by the testing lab. It also includes a trend line (red line) that shows the percent of all positive tests, averaged over the previous 7-day period. The 7-day average percent positive (by test) trend line is an indicator for monitoring COVID-19 trends. The line is presented as a 7-day average to smooth out any day-to-day fluctuations and track overall trends. Increasing trends in the 7-day average percent positive (by test) trend line could indicate an increase in COVID-19 infections.

In this graph, people are included each time they are tested. If people tested positive or negative more than once, they are included and counted each time, on the date the testing lab reports their test result. Tracking by test provides a daily view of test positivity and is a more recent method used by other groups.

Please note:

• October 16-18, 2020: The WEDSS system underwent routine maintenance and enhancements. Due to this temporary pause in reporting, multiple days of data were uploaded at once, affecting the single day count for the visualizations during that time.

About our data: How do we measure this?

Data source: These data are from the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS).

Data in this graph includes all Wisconsin residents tested in- and out-of-state, as well as non-Wisconsin residents that were tested in-state. This figure includes data on diagnostic, confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) that detect the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. No antigen or antibody test results are included in this figure.

The data in this chart are laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 extracted from WEDSS. People with negative test results are reported electronically or entered manually into the WEDSS electronic laboratory module. In addition, people with unprocessed negative test results are also included in this chart. Unprocessed means that the negative laboratory results are reported into WEDSS “staging” system but not yet imported into the live system. This is a manual process requiring public health staff to review, import, and assign cases (example: attach to an existing record or create a new record). We strive for transparency and accuracy in our data. As individual results are processed into the live system and investigated by public health, there may be corrections to the status and details of cases that result in changes to these data.

We plan to update our data Monday through Friday by 2 p.m.

Back to a list of charts on this page.

COVID-19 cases and deaths by county and census tract, municipality, school district, and zip code

Understanding our data: What do these maps mean?

These maps show metrics on COVID-19 cases and deaths. Case metrics include new case rates over the past 7 days, cumulative case counts, and cumulative case rates by geographic boundary. Death metrics include cumulative death rates, cumulative death counts, and percent of deaths among all cases.

The case rate over the past 7 days is shown using four colors, blue, yellow, orange, and red, that indicate differing COVID-19 community transmission levels. The transmission level cut-offs align with CDC’s case-rate definitions used to determine the level of community transmission on the CDC COVID Data Tracker. Note: the CDC tracker also incorporates percent positivity (the percentage of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA tests in the past 7 days) in the measure of community transmission levels, so transmission levels on DHS and CDC maps may not always be the same.

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For remaining case and death metrics, darker colors indicate a higher rate or count of COVID-19 cases or deaths. Clicking within a specific geographic boundary provides boundary-specific metrics. Data represent all COVID-19 case information for those who reside in that geographic area. Data are inclusive of all age groups.

Please note:

• January 15-17, 2022: The WEDSS system was updated to allow for auto-importing of positive tests. Daily case numbers for this period were elevated due to processing the backlog of records.
• May 27, 2021: This visualization is using an updated data file that allows corrections due to quality assurance to be counted on the day when a case or death was first reported, rather than affecting the current daily cases or deaths. The new historical data file behind this improved method is available for download in the “Download our data” section.
• October 16-18, 2020: The WEDSS system underwent routine maintenance and enhancements. Due to this temporary pause in reporting, multiple days of data were uploaded at once, affecting the single day count for the visualizations during that time.

About our data: How do we measure this?

Data source: Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS).

Data are based on the geocoded addresses of all COVID-19 records that have been entered into WEDSS. All COVID-19 data that are geocoded to a location within a boundary are represented as part of the total values being reported for that geographic area.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how cases of COVID-19 are reported to WEDSS.

Every morning by 9 a.m., we pull the data from WEDSS that will be reported on the DHS website at 2 p.m. These numbers are the official DHS numbers. Counties may report their own case and death counts on their own websites. Because WEDSS is a live system that constantly accepts data, case and death counts on county websites will differ from the DHS counts if the county pulls data from WEDSS at a different time of day. Please consult the county websites to determine what time of day they pull data from WEDSS. Combining the DHS and local totals will result in inaccurate totals.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19: Unless otherwise specified, the data described here are confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to WEDSS. Cases are classified using the national case definition established by the CDC. Confirmed cases are those that have positive results from diagnostic, confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) that detect genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Illnesses with only positive antigen or positive antibody test results do not meet the definition of confirmed and are not included in the number of confirmed cases.

COVID-19 deaths: Unless otherwise specified, COVID-19 deaths reported on the DHS website are deaths among confirmed cases of COVID-19 that meet the vital records criteria set forth by the CDC and Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) case definition. Those are deaths that have a death certificate that lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as an underlying cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. Deaths associated with COVID-19 must be reported by health care providers or medical examiners/coroners, and recorded in WEDSS by local health departments in order to be counted as a COVID-19 death. Deaths among people with COVID-19 that were the result of non-COVID reasons (e.g., accident, overdose, etc.) are not included as a COVID-19 death. For more information see the FAQ page.

Data shown are subject to change. For more information see the FAQ page. As individual cases are investigated by public health, there may be corrections to the status and details of cases that result in changes to this information. Some examples of corrections or updates that may result in the case or death counts going up or down, include:

• Update or correction of case’s address, resulting in a change to their location of residence to another county or state
• Correction to laboratory result
• Correction to a case’s status from confirmed to unconfirmed (for example, if they were marked as confirmed because a blood test detecting antibodies was positive instead of a test detecting the virus causing COVID-19)
• De-duplication or merging and consolidation of case records
• Update of case’s demographic information from missing or unknown to complete information

For information on testing, see: COVID-19, testing criteria section.

We plan to update our data Monday through Friday by 2 p.m.

Back to a list of charts on this page.

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