Wisconsin's confirmed cases of coronavirus increase by 291 after two-day dip in new cases

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Correction: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation recently increased its projection for COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin by early August from 673 to 791. This story previously contained an inaccurate number due to a typo from IHME.

After two days with fewer than 200 new cases of coronavirus and a 50-day low in percent of tests that came back positive, Wisconsin saw a more typical update Wednesday, with 291 newly reported cases and an uptick in the percent-positive rate to 6.25%

Three more people died of COVID-19 by the state's official count, bringing the total to 421.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association reported Wednesday morning that 343 people were currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, while 169 inpatients awaited test results.

There were more than 4.3 million confirmed cases worldwide by mid-day, according to a case tracker created by Johns Hopkins University, with nearly 1.4 million in the U.S. COVID-19 had killed nearly 295,000 people globally and more than 83,000 in the U.S.

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A well-known statistical model from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation revised its estimate for deaths in Wisconsin through early August, up from 673 to 791.

Ninety-four people have died in Wisconsin since May 1.

Authors of the IHME projections wrote that recent changes to state estimates "are likely due to a combination of updated data inputs on COVID-19 epidemiologic indicators and key drivers of viral transmission like changes in testing and mobility, as well as easing of distancing policies."

Tuesday, the percent of new tests that were positive was 3.9%, the lowest since the state stopped including repeated tests of the same patients in its daily reports. Wisconsin hasn't reached double digits in that number since May 3, when the percent of new tests that were positive was 11%.

The state's count of confirmed cases by county stood as follows Wednesday:

4,215 in Milwaukee County
1,982 in Brown County
785 in Racine County
736 in Kenosha County
490 in Dane County
421 in Waukesha County
380 in Rock County
243 in Walworth County
122 in Washington and Outagamie counties
111 in Fond du Lac County
110 in Ozaukee County
102 in Winnebago County
79 in Dodge County
73 in Sauk County
70 in Grant County
66 in Sheboygan County
61 in Eau Claire County
54 in Jefferson County
44 in Calumet County
36 in Green and St. Croix counties
34 in Columbia and La Crosse counties
31 in Chippewa County
29 in Kewaunee County
28 in Oconto and Marathon counties
27 in Shawano County
24 in Clark County
23 in Door County
21 in Juneau and Marinette counties
20 in Manitowoc County
19 in Dunn County
17 in Crawford County
15 in Monroe County
14 in Jackson, Lafayette, Pierce and Waupaca counties
13 in Richland County
11 in Barron and Douglas counties
10 in Green Lake and Iowa counties
Seven in Oneida and Portage counties
Six in Trempealeau and Vernon counties
Five in Buffalo, Forest and Polk counties
Four in Adams, Rusk, Sawyer, Vilas, Waushara and Wood counties
Three in Bayfield and Marquette counties
Two in Ashland, Florence, Iron and Menominee counties
One in Lincoln, Price and Washburn counties

Note that the state's totals are frozen once each day, and that some counties may have reported more up-to-date counts.

Contact Matt Piper at (920) 810-7164 or mpiper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @m atthew_piper.