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Madison, Wis. — Nationwide, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in areas with low vaccination rates and virtually all patients who are hospitalized are not vaccinated.
In the United States, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases increased 16% from the previous seven-day moving average, 14,885, and 12,832, respectively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Wisconsin, the most recent seven-day average was 138 cases, up 39% from the previously reported seven-day average of 99 cases, the state Department of Health Services data tracker showed.
Hospitalizations are also up 8.6% nationally, according CDC data, while Wisconsin has seen an increase of 25% from Sunday to Monday this week, according to the Wisconsin Hospitals Association.
In late June, more than 98% of patients hospitalized in the United States with a SARS CoV-2 infection were unvaccinated against the virus, according to an Associated Press analysis of CDC data.
The more contagious delta variant is also on the rise, which as of July 3, is predicted to contribute to about 52% of cases in the United States, according to the CDC.
There are three safe and effective vaccines on the market and health officials urge those who are not vaccinated to make an appointment and get a vaccine as soon as possible. UW Health, for example, now offers COVID-19 vaccines at numerous primary care clinics.
“It has been heartbreaking to continue to see that those we are admitting now with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated,” said Dr. Ann Sheehy, UW Health hospitalist who has been treating COVID-19 patients since the pandemic started.
