A total of 2,533 new coronavirus cases were reported in Wisconsin Friday, marking the highest-ever one-day report of new cases in the state, according to health officials.
Friday's report shattered the record set just one day earlier, 2,034 new cases within a 24-hour span. According to an analysis by NBC 5 Investigates, Wisconsin has broken its record average daily case count for the past eight days in a row.
Additionally, the state's weekly case load remains in the five digits as the state added 11,029 new cases over the past seven days.
Wisconsin is now adding 27.1 new coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people each day, according to the analysis. On Tuesday, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Wisconsin will likely be added to the city's Emergency Travel Order next week, and since then, the numbers have only gotten worse.
States are added to the Emergency Travel Order if they have "a case rate greater than 15 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 resident population, per day, over a 7-day rolling average." If they fall below that threshold, they could be removed as well.
Wisconsin was previously added to the list on July 31, but was removed on Aug. 18 due to a decrease in the amount of coronavirus cases.
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Along with an increase in cases, the state's positivity rate is soaring as well.
As of Friday, the rolling 7-day positivity rate of 15.3% is the highest the state has ever seen. Furthermore, positivity rates reported in the past several days were also record highs, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
While the sharp increase in cases can partially be attributed to students testing positive at college campuses, it's unlikely the only factor. As of Friday, the University of Wisconsin Madison - the state's flagship public university - reported 2,511 new cases on campus, just since the fall semester started last week.
In all, a total of 97,279 coronavirus cases and 1,238 deaths have been reported statewide since the start of the pandemic.
