La Crosse adds 69, as county hospitals near COVID care capacity

Another 69 cases of COVID-19 in La Crosse County, as hospital care is approaching capacity.

The Coulee COVID-19 Collaborative dashboard shows both hospitalization rate and capacity in yellow. In fact, for the first time, all the metrics on the dashboard are either yellow or red.

“We have capacity,” Dr. Todd Kowalski, an infectious disease specialist at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse said during a health briefing Wednesday (more on that here). “But we are concerned about reaching capacity in the coming weeks, if these deeply concerning trends in terms of illness rates, illness demographics continue.”

The county is averaging 49 cases a day the past week with a positivity rate of 20.6%. Two more county residents were also hospitalized in the past 24 hours.

La Crosse County hospitals are admitting an average of 6.1 per 100,000 a day — both county and out-of-county residents. The dashboard does not indicate how many La Crosse County residents are currently hospitalized.

Here are the stats from surrounding counties Wednesday:
TREMPEALEAU: 26 new cases (1,039 total – 181 active – 5 hospitalized)
MONROE: 36 new cases (1,196 total – 246 active – 6 hospitalized)
JACKSON: 22 new cases (561 total – 234 active, not including new cases, 6 hospitalized)
VERNON: 15 new cases (508 total – 100 active – 5 hospitalized)
WINONA: 18 new cases (1,296 total – no other data available)
*Houston and Buffalo counties no longer provide daily stats.

STATE TOTALS
Wisconsin: 210,126 cases, 10,810 hospitalizations, 1,897 deaths
Minnesota:139,444 cases, 9,855 hospitalizations, 2,387 deaths
Iowa: 121,481 cases, 1,691 deaths
AVERAGE CASES PER DAY THE PAST WEEK
Wisconsin 3,919, Minnesota 1,844, Iowa 1,548

Statewide, after setting records for cases, deaths and hospitalizations Tuesday, Wisconsin numbers remain alarmingly high.

There were 3,815 cases, 174 more hospitalized and 45 more deaths Wednesday.

Minnesota added 1,916 cases, 126 hospitalizations — a day after setting a single-day high (141) — and 19 more died from the virus.

Iowa added 2,433 cases, 113 more hospitalized and 12 deaths Wednesday. The state has a record-high 605 currently hospitalized.