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By far the highest daily COVID-19 death toll recorded on Tuesday in Wisconsin

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Posted at 2:52 PM, Nov 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-17 19:45:57-05

Ninety-two deaths were reported due to complications caused by COVID-19 in Wisconsin on Tuesday, by far the highest daily death toll recorded.

The grim surge in deaths raises the death toll since the pandemic began in the state to 2,741, according to the latest numbers from the Department of Health Services.

Wisconsin now has the 5th highest number of average cases over the last seven days in the U.S., at 50.6, and the 4th highest number of deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S., at .9, according to the New York Times COVID-19 database.

A graph of the deaths in Wisconsin released by the DHS clearly shows a trend health officials and the governor's administration have desperately tried to avoid, through Executive Order 94, which urges residents to stay indoors and follow COVID-19 safety guidelines, as well as through local orders issued by municipalities that may place capacity limits on indoor gatherings.

But Wisconsin, contrary to many other states in the U.S., still lacks a statewide COVID-19 order that may halt the continued rise in COVID-19 related deaths and cases. All that remains of the governor's administration's orders is the mask mandate, which the state Supreme Court is currently weighing whether or not should be blocked. There remains the possibility that the mask mandate will follow in the steps of Evers' 'Safer at Home' order, which was blocked by the state's highest court last spring.

Also on Tuesday, the DHS recorded the second-highest number of average COVID-19 cases over the last week, at 6,429, just below the highest recorded average of 6,442 recorded last Friday. As the DHS has warned before, the processing of COVID-19 data slows over the weekend, thus showing an artificial dip in cases on Sunday and Monday.

Meanwhile, 318 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 Tuesday, raising the active number of hospitalizations in the state to 14,817. There are now just over 72,300 active COVID-19 cases in the state, DHS numbers show. At least 248,700 people have recovered from the coronavirus in Wisconsin.

Gov. Evers on Tuesday released a package of 19 bills he wants the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature to consider this fall in response to the surging coronavirus pandemic. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also outlined Republican priorities Tuesday, but did not release specifics.

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Coronavirus in Wisconsin

More data on Wisconsin's vaccination progress here.

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More information: COVID-19 on the Wisconsin DHS website

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