A Milwaukee Health Department nurse wears protective gear while standing outside a polling station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Wisconsin proceeded with its primary on Tuesday and voters defied stay-at-home orders to wait as long as two hours to cast ballots in the first state to hold an in-person election since the coronavirus pandemic sent Americans into their homes. Photographer: Thomas Werner/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Wisconsin health officials reported a record 5,771 new coronavirus cases and 52 more deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with a testing positivity rate tracking ever higher.
The state also recorded the highest-ever daily new case rate at 77.9 new cases for every 100,000 people. Experts have noted anything over 10 daily new cases per 100,000 people is considered a "red flag."
Hospitalizations rose by 247 in the state, which for weeks has ranked as one of the nation’s worst hot spots for the virus. The state’s daily average of new cases has risen by 44% over the past two weeks, making it fourth-worst in the country for new cases per capita, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University.
Wisconsin's positivity rate has risen over the last two weeks, reaching the state's record-high of 30.8% as of Tuesday, health officials reported. The new calculation means that about 30 out of every 100 people who took the coronavirus test over the past week tested positive.
Wisconsin has seen 2,102 deaths from the virus.
