Weekend upgrade confuses the COVID-19 number - but it is still clear we have a problem

As you will see if you look at the COVID graphs for today on the site, the reporting from the state was a little disrupted over the weekend as the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System was being upgraded to be more flexible and powerful. A lot of data flowed out of the system again this afternoon after a weekend period of no reporting. DHS recommends looking at the 7-day average of cases rather than individual days, as that makes the general trends much clearer. 

But no matter how you look at it, Wisconsin is still in trouble with the pandemic. 26 deaths have been reported since Friday,  three each in Chippewa, La Crosse and Waukesha Counties; two each in Kenosha, Langlade, Milwaukee, and Portage Counties; and one each in Brown, Clark, Dodge, Green, Juneau, Marathon, Marinette, Oconto and Outagamie Counties.

7705 new cases have been confirmed since Friday, and it may in fact be worse than that since there is always a weekend lag of reporting positive cases. 

Court battles continue over restrictions to limit the spread of COVID, while the legislature continues to call out from the sidelines as they continue not to meet, but continue to complain about attempts by the Governor and DHS to control the pandemic. This is an untenable situation, and one can only hope that the Republican-led legislature will consider actually doing something useful about the health crisis in the state after the election. Citizens need protective measures from the virus, and businesses in the state and the nation need to have legislation to protect them from the safety measures.

In the meantime Wisconsinites become sick from the virus, some of them die, and some of them develop long-term complications. While we wait for definitive action, please follow the health advisories and advice. Mask up, wash your hands like you've never washed them before, and whenever possible stay at home.