Ashland County records third COVID death

Ashland County Health Officer Elizabeth Szot on Monday declined to offer any information about the patient’s age, gender or town of residence  “out of respect for the privacy of the family.”

“Ashland County has suffered the loss of a third member of one of our communities due to complications of COVID-19,” she said.

Ashland’s first death was reported Aug. 5, with the second death reported Sept. 6. Bayfield County also has reported one death.

Statewide, as of Monday afternoon, 1,474 patients had died of the virus or its complications and 8,454 people remained hospitalized with the virus.

The local death came as positive diagnoses across the state continued to surge.

Wisconsin on Monday remained the third- or fourth-highest state in the nation in per capita new COVID diagnoses.

Ashland County as of Friday reported 25 new cases from the previous day, bringing the county’s overall total positive tally to 193; another 293 patients who may have been exposed to the virus were being monitored

Bayfield County reported 21 new cases in the week that ended Sunday — the fourth week of double-digit increases in a row. It had a total of 144 overall positive tests, with 39 still active.

Across Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services reported that 84% of hospital beds were full as coronavirus cases continued to climb.

More than 5,400 new cases were diagnosed over the weekend, and more than 50,000 new cases have been confirmed in Wisconsin over the last three weeks, according to DHS,

The state reached a new all-time high in its seven-day average of the percent of positive tests at 18.6%, officials said. Hospitalizations rose by 79 Sunday.