Gov. Evers warns of ‘near-exponential’ COVID-19 growth; more people in Wisconsin now hospitalized with virus than ever before – Milwaukee Journal…

Wisconsin on Thursday logged the highestnumber of people hospitalized with the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and reportednearly 2,400 new coronavirus cases, the second-highest daily case count ever.

Gov. Tony Evers urged residents to wear masks and practice social distancing as the state continued to see what he called "unprecedented, near-exponential growth" in case counts, largely driven by young people.

Those ages 18 to 24 had a case rate five times higher than any other group about two weeks ago. But all age groups are seeing cases rise, according to Journal Sentinel data.

As of Thursday, 528 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, the most since the pandemic began, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

Of those hospitalized with the virus, 151 people were in the ICU, DHS reported. The ages of those currently hospitalized is not shared by DHS.

"I know we all wanted to get back to normal. But we will continue to see increases in cases until folks decide to take this seriously," Evers saidin a conference call with reporters Thursday.

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On Thursday the state Department of Health Services reported 2,392 new cases and 10,877 negative tests, for a positivity rate of 18%.

The average positivity rate over the last seven days was 17%.

The state also reported six deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,265.

Thursday's case count is second only to the 2,533 cases reported on Sept. 18. The state has broken all-time highrecords repeatedly in September as students have returned to school.

The average daily case count over the last seven days was 1,939 on Thursday, the highest ever.

Health officials warned that the upcoming flu season could compound issues, stretching hospital capacities and putting health care workers at risk. They urged everyone to get flu shots.

"It's tremendously concerning to think about the possibility of a bad flu season on top of a COVID-19 pandemic," said Ryan Westergaard, DHS chief medical officer.

Westergaard said many of the tactics to prevent coronavirus infection also work to prevent theflu: washing hands, social distancing, face masks.

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

Global cases surpassed 32 million as of mid-Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 6.9million of those cases and 201,467 deaths were in the United States.

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Gov. Evers warns of 'near-exponential' COVID-19 growth; more people in Wisconsin now hospitalized with virus than ever before - Milwaukee Journal...