COVID-19 infections jump over Thanksgiving holiday

MILWAUKEE — COVID-19 infections in Milwaukee County saw a big jump over the holiday weekend, according to new data. 

Milwaukee County’s Chief Health Policy Advisor Ben Weston posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, on Monday with data showing some of the highest positivity rates in nearly two years.

📈Big jump in #COVID19 over #Thanksgiving

⚠️Highest positivity in nearly 2 years.
⚠️Highest hospitalizations in nearly 1 year.

Less than 1/3 of @mkecounty folks 65y+ received updated fall vaccine

Reach out to family & friends– it’s not too late to get VACCINATED & PROTECTED💉 pic.twitter.com/FXY1BSOsF2

— Ben Weston MD MPH 😷 💉 (@BenWWeston) November 27, 2023

Hospitalizations are also up, with Weston citing the highest hospitalizations in nearly a year. There were 99 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 over Thanksgiving in the county. That’s almost a 50% increase from the week prior, according to the data.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services data reveals that hospitalizations have been growing overall in the southeast region, showing a 46% increase from Nov. 5 to Nov. 18.

Less than a third of Milwaukee County residents 65 years and older received the updated fall vaccine, Weston said in the post. DHS data shows only 8.6% of residents in total have received at least one dose of the updated September vaccine. That’s below the statewide percentage of 10.3%.

In the post, Weston also encouraged Wisconsinites to get the latest vaccine, which is designed to protect them from the specific strains of the disease circulating this year. The vaccines are being distributed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

DHS officials recommend everyone 6 months and older in the U.S. get the updated dose. You can find a COVID-19 vaccination site here.

Wisconsin is one of several states that no longer reports daily case counts for COVID-19. Rather, officials mostly rely on hospitalization data and wastewater testing. Recent water testing data revealed that 77% of all facilities had very high COVID-19 levels compared to the last six months.