Wisconsin reports more than 2,700 new coronavirus cases as outbreak continues to rank among nation’s worst – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin continued Friday as one of thenation's coronavirus hotspots, with the recent explosion of cases alarming health officials and straining hospitals in the Fox Valley, Green Bayand Wausau areas.

Before Sept. 17, the state had never recorded a day with more than 2,000 new cases. Over the last seven days, however, ithas reported an average of nearly 2,500 new coronavirus cases each day. Those aren't just the highest numbers of the pandemic, they'rethree times higher than a month ago.

What began with outbreaks on Wisconsin's college campuses has now spread rapidly throughout the state.

"We're entering a dangerous time of new cases here in Wisconsin," Veronica Scott-Fulton, chief nursing officer for SSM Health, said Fridayat a news conference in Madison.

The 2,745 new cases and five deaths reported Friday by the state Department of Health Services came asthe Oshkosh and Neenah area grappled with one of the worst outbreaks in the country, according to a New York Times analysis of case counts.

At one point Friday, the Green Bay and Appleton metro areas joined Oshkosh in the top three spots of the nationwide leaderboard for most new cases in the last two weeks, adjusting for population.

Wisconsin also reported 10,850 negative tests Friday. The death toll rose to 1,353.

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As of Fridaythere were 663 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, with 181 of themin an intensive care unit, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association. On Sept. 1, the number hospitalized was 295, and the number in an ICU was 100.

Health care officials said a number of factors could be at play in the recent spike, but it's likely the result of people not paying attention to basic prevention. It's no secret thatbars and restaurants especiallyin northern and rural parts of the state are often packed, with masks and social distancing often ignored.

Despite the surge, there's a growing effort to strike down Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate.

Republican legislative leaders went to court Friday to show support for aconservative legal firm's lawsuit againstthe mandate. The move came the same day President Donald Trump, who does not wear face masks regularly, canceled weekend rallies planned for Wisconsin after hetested positive for the coronavirus.

Health officials outside northeast Wisconsinwarned the outbreak could return quickly to former hotspots such as Madison and Milwaukee.

"We are perilously close to a time back in April when we had our highest level of hospitalizations in the city (of Madison), and we do not want to get back to that point," said Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control at UW Health.

More than 1.4 million people have been tested statewide for the virus. Of the 105,932 Wisconsinites who have tested positive:

Aspirus Health Care again tightenedvisitor restrictions at its hospitals, nursing homes and health care facilities in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Visitors will no longer be allowed at Aspirus facilities. There aresome exceptions, such as for end-of-life situations, labor and delivery,surgery patients, patients with specific caregiving needs or pediatric patients. Those using outpatient treatment centers, such as for dialysis and oncology, may also have a support person.

Earlier this week, Aspirus warned that the recent surge in coronavirus cases and patients was straining its facilities. Matthew Heywood, president and CEO of the system, acknowledge that its Wausau hospital has resorted to at-timesputting patients on await list. He stressed that the number of people on the wait listfluctuates, as do wait times, which he said ranged from a couple of hours to 24 hours or longer.

Andrew Mollica and Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Contact Mary Spicuzzaat (414) 224-2324 ormary.spicuzza@jrn.com. Followheron Twitter at @MSpicuzzaMJS.

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Wisconsin reports more than 2,700 new coronavirus cases as outbreak continues to rank among nation's worst - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel