Wisconsin’s governor on Tuesday warned of an impending crisis as the state continues to see coronavirus cases rise and its hospitals overwhelmed.
“There is no way to sugarcoat it, we are facing an urgent crisis and there is an imminent risk to you and your family,” Gov. Tony Evers said.
Hospital beds in the state are 84% full, as well as 87% of intensive care unit beds, according to state data, as hospitalizations continue to escalate.
The state opened a hospital facility at the state fair grounds October 14, and five patients have been cared for there as of Tuesday.
More than 5,000 confirmed cases were reported in Wisconsin as of Tuesday, bringing the total number there to more than 200,000 — a “tragic” and “concerning” milestone, Evers said. The state’s death toll rose by 64 Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,852.
“The increasing cases, and our increase in deaths today are the largest single day increases we’ve seen throughout the course of this pandemic,” said Andrea Palm, Secretary-designee of Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services. “We must take significant and collective action.”
Surging infections: The state’s seven-day average of new cases has increased by more than 400%, Palm said. It took seven months for cases to reach 100,000 there, and only 36 days to hit 200,000 Evers said.
Evers’ warning comes as nearly half a million Americans tested positive for Covid-19 in just the last week as a fall surge of the contagious virus claws its way into every region of the country.
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