Wisconsin Breaks Single-Day COVID-19 Case Record

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin set a new single-day COVID-19 case record on Saturday, as state health officials reported 738 new confirmed cases over a 24-hour period.

That eclipses the previous mark of 733 cases over a 24-hour period that was set on May 29.

Saturday's 733 confirmed COVID-19 cases represents 10.8 percent of all tests that were recorded that day, and the highest positive case percentage over the last 14 days.

The state set a new record for COVID-19 cases over a 7-day period on Wednesday with an average of 491 cases. On Thursday, that average was pushed to 502 cases.

Wisconsin's previous record was set on May 30 when the state averaged 479 new cases over a 7-day period. By June 17, that average had fallen to a 7-day average of 266, only to climb every day since then.

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On Thursday, the Department of Health Services reported that Wisconsin has seen a recent surge in cases with half of all positive cases coming within the past five weeks. Nearly 20 percent of total COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin have tested positive within the past two weeks, they said.

"This spike in cases is driven in part by an increase in infections among younger people, and contact tracing by some local health departments has revealed that many of these cases can traced back to bars," DHS officials said.

This article originally appeared on the Brookfield Patch