Wisconsin reports 22 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday in largest single-day total

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- As the US grapples with 100,000 deaths, Wisconsin had its largest single-day death total Wednesday.

Wisconsin reported 22 new deaths Wednesday, the largest single-day total since the outbreak began.

This comes after the number of total deaths per day has been trending downwards for a while.

Wisconsin also had a record high of new cases reported Wednesday with 599.

Health officials say that's probably because we've tested more people than ever before.

Many people may be wondering if the rollback of stay at home orders are to blame for the spike in numbers, but experts aren't ready to say that just yet.

"Given the overall trends, we would say with -- you know with some uncertainty that there's more people in the community right now than a couple weeks ago that have the infection," said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer of the Bureau of Communicable Diseases. "And the other thing that's it's fair to say is that we don't know who those people are."

Health officials don't rely on single-day totals that could be an anomaly, but they say if it is trending up for several days, it's a sign we're headed in the wrong direction.