GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — Just in the last month, Dr. Brad Burmeister and Bellin Health were optimistic when local Covid-19 hospitalizations trended down.
"We knew at that point though that our positivity rate, or the number of cases that are positive of all the cases we do, was creeping up," Burmeister said.
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Now, the state is seeing a Covid spike unlike any other this year. On Monday, the Department of Health Services reported 4,066 new confirmed cases, the most in a single day in 2021. The current seven-day average is just under 3,000 positive tests per day.
Local hospitals remain at or near full capacity with coronavirus patients.
"Our hospital right now, more than one in four patients who are in the hospital are infected with Covid-19 or recovering from an infection with Covid-19," Burmeister said.
But it's a case rise he expected. Burmeister says one of the root causes is a lagging vaccination effort.
"Only about a third of people in our region are unvaccinated at this point, yet they make up 70 percent or more people needing hospitalization," he said.
The DHS considers every Wisconsin county as an area with at least very high case activity.
De Pere Public Health Officer Debbie Armbruster says a decrease in social distancing is playing a role.
"People now, especially with the holidays, are starting to get together more in larger groups," she said. "Not everyone is vaccinated."
And the youngest population of Wisconsinites is still ineligible for a Covid shot.
"Children are getting vaccinated now, but that's just happening," Armbruster said. "And so there's spread that way as well."
So health officials urge families to take caution this holiday season.
"We're having a huge burden on our health systems right now," Burmeister said. "And we are doing everything we can to adapt to this demand, but it's a challenge right now."
