Listen Live

The Ideas Network
Program Schedule
Program Notes

NPR News & Music Network
Program Schedule
Music Playlists

All Classical Network
Program Schedule
Music Playlists
WPR
CORONAVIRUS IN WISCONSIN

In this June 10, 2020, file photo, Olivia Chan’s father helps her with a new mask she received during a graduation ceremony for her Pre-K class in front of Bradford School in Jersey City, N.J. Seth Wenig/AP Photo
Highly contagious delta variant means more hospitalizations for Wisconsin kids, stress on health system
Doctors warn of potentials challenges getting care for other medical problems
By Madeline Fox
Published:
Monday, October 4, 2021, 5:40am
SHARE:

ListenDownload
Wisconsin children have been back to school for several weeks, and already the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has made its presence known. Some school districts started reporting positive cases their first week back, and some schools have temporarily shut down or quarantined entire classes after hitting a critical mass of sick teachers and students.

The delta variant is far more contagious than the coronavirus that was circulating this time last fall, which has led to a new spike in infections among kids that’s almost as high as the November 2020 spike before COVID-19 vaccines were available — and even higher for some age groups and in some areas.

Still, kids’ risk of severe disease is much lower than that of adults, and doesn’t seem to be any higher with delta than it was with earlier iterations of the virus, said Dr. Greg DeMuri, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“It’s just that there are more cases, so a small percentage of a large number is still a significant number,” he said.

As a result, Wisconsin and the rest of the country have seen more children hospitalized, more children in ICUs, and more cases of multi-system inflammatory disease, a rare but serious set of symptoms linked to COVID-19 in some children.

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Wisconsin’s health agencies, pharmacists and other vaccinators administered more than 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for a second day in a row, bringing the state close to 6.2 million “shots in the arm” since vaccinations began back on December 13, 2020.

More than 5,800 people completed their vaccination series since the Department of Health Services report. So far, 3,039,805 Wisconsinites have had both doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That includes 62.8% of the adult population. It’s 52.2% of the entire state population if you include the 14% who are too young to get vaccinated. The 16- to 17-year-old age group reached 50% of their population getting at least one dose of vaccine, barely 5 months after these teens became eligible for vaccination; 44.8% have completed their vaccination series.

The DHS reports 3,233,643 Wisconsin residents received at least one dose, which includes 66.5% — almost two-thirds — of all adults. It’s also 55.5% of the state population.

Despite the progress on vaccinations, deaths were in the double digits again Friday. The DHS says 24 deaths that happened in the past month were just reported to the state, including 3 deaths in Dodge County, 2 in Waupaca County, and 1 death each in Kewaunee and Waushara counties. The death toll had a net increase of 23, to 7,740 lives lost; a review that found a death counted twice or a patient from outside the state could account for the difference. The 7-day average rose from 11 to 13 deaths per day.