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Door Co. sees third record week of COVID cases; Kewaunee Co. reports senior home outbreaks

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Door County reported a third straight week of a record-high new positive tests for the COVID-19 virus, while a report of COVID-19 outbreaks at residential care facilities in Kewaunee County over the past few weeks contributed to its continued high statistics.

The Kewaunee County Public Health Department reported 138 new positive results from Nov. 10 to 17, for a total of 1,490 since testing began this spring. That means one of every 13.7 people in the county has received a positive test result at some time this year. It's the eighth straight week the county has reported more than 100 positives.

Of those, 125 are currently active as of Nov. 17, compared to 114 as of Nov. 10, and seven people with the virus are hospitalized, an increase from three the week before. One new death because of COVID-10 complications was reported, bringing the county's total to 14, nine of those occurring in the past four weeks. So far, 1,351 people have recovered.

At the Nov. 10 County Board meeting, Public Health Department Director Cindy Kinnard said in her report that a number of the then-new cases, and five deaths, came from three community-based residential facilities and one skilled nursing facility.

Kinnard told the Star-News Tuesday that outbreaks were continuing in those facilities, including the one death, over the past week. She didn't have a specific number of positive cases in them but said she believed eight of the county's 10 facilities — of which, two are skilled nursing facilities and eight are community-based residential facilities — have had positive tests as of Tuesday morning. Kinnard said the facilities implemented procedures to bring the outbreaks under control.

The number of positive tests per 100,000 people for the county in the past seven days was 603 for Kewaunee County, slightly higher than 559 on Nov. 10. It's the second straight week the county has ranked near the bottom of the state's counties in that metric from the Wisconsin Department of Public Health (65th out of 72 last week, 61st this week).

But that's mainly because of soaring new cases in most other counties — Jackson and Menominee reported more than 1,700 cases per 100,000 over the past week, Barron had 1,698 and 16 counties in total were over 1,000 — while Kewaunee's weekly per-100,000 number has stayed relatively consistent in the past two months. The cumulative number for the county since testing began is 7,143 per 100,000, ninth-highest in the state.

Two hundred and three of 341 reported tests came back negative in the past week, for a positive rate of 40.5%, slightly down from 41.5% the week before. A cumulative total of 6,359 tests were negative, so the overall positive test rate for the county (from 7,849 total results) is 19%, an increase from 18% as of Nov. 10 and 17.1% the week before that.

The Door County Public Health Department reported 284 new positive tests between Nov. 10 and 17, well over the then-record 240 reported the week before and marking a third straight week with more than 200 new cases.

That includes five new cases classified as probable, a recently added category that includes those who have not yet been confirmed positive by a lab but had a positive antigen test or have COVID-19 symptoms and known exposure to the virus. Such cases are considered as positive and those in that category should isolate themselves and contact their employers and close contacts.

Door County's cumulative total of positives since testing began this spring is now 1,514 — one in every 18.5 people — which includes 100 probable cases. Of those, 713 cases are active, 77 more than were on Nov. 10, but no new deaths from the virus were reported in the past week, leaving the county's toll at 10. Eleven people were hospitalized in the past week because of the virus, bringing the overall total to 49. Officials say 791 people have recovered.

With 666 positive tests per 100,000 population in the past week, a significant drop from 869 per 100,000 the week before, Door County ranked 51st among the state's 72 counties. The cumulative total of 5,121 per 100,000 is 39th most in the state.

The positive test rate over the past week, which saw 670 results come in, is 41.6%, a spike from 33% between Nov. 3 and 10 and 21.8% the week before. The cumulative rate of positive results, from a total of 11,910 tests, is 12.7%, compared to 10.9% a week ago.

Statewide, the Department of Public Health reported 7,090 new cases Tuesday, the fifth day of the past seven the number was more than 7,000, and a record 92 deaths, far surpassing the previous high of 66 the Tuesday before. Data show 2,277 people are hospitalized with the virus, 431 of them in intensive care, both record highs for the state. The number of hospitalizations for the virus in the state has jumped 550% in the last two months. The positive test rate Tuesday was 35.4% across the state.

Over the seven days from Nov. 10 to 17, the state averaged 6,429 new COVID-19 cases a day, compared to 5,825 the week prior, and a new record 49 virus-related deaths a day, seven times the average at the start of September.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door Co. sees third record week of COVID cases; Kewaunee Co. reports senior home outbreaks

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