Only 37 out of the more than one thousand ICU beds in the state were available as of Tuesday afternoon.
Hospitals in North Central Wisconsin are at or near capacity.
The high number of COVID-positive patients are putting pressure on healthcare systems and their staff.
The state is currently averaging more than 3,100 new COVID cases a day.
The Department of Health Services reported another 33 deaths Wednesday.
DHS Secretary Designee Karen Timberlake said the state hasn’t seen this level of disease activity since last December.
The state is requesting five FEMA medical teams to help support hospitals. It’s also putting millions of dollars into staffing contracts and CNA training to help with staff shortages.
“The bottom line is that we will continue to make every effort to make sure our hospitals, nursing homes, and assisting living providers have what they need to care for all of us,” said Timberlake. “In order to do this successfully, we must prevent further strain on Wisconsin’s health and long-term care providers, and we cannot do this without you.”
In his first COVID briefing in months, Governor Tony Evers urged Wisconsinites to get vaccinated and take steps to help alleviate some of that pressure.
“We just can’t let our hospitals go into crisis mode here folks. We need everybody do that encouraging. People can change their minds,” said Evers. “I know there’s lot of people against vaccines out there, but people can change their minds and I think if we all get together and encourage people to be vaccinated, I think we can make a difference.”
More than 400 ICU patients in the state have COVID, majority of them are unvaccinated.
The people hospitalized are younger than seen during the surge last year and the patients tend to be hospitalized longer.
“In part because they are younger, they are healthier and able to hang on a bit longer and, on the flip side, what our hospital partners tell us is that the Delta variant, in particular, is making people sicker than what we had seen,” said Timberlake.
Flu cases are also worrying health officials.
Unlike the COVID surge last year, the state is starting to see flu cases circulating.
They haven’t made a huge impact on the healthcare system yet.
But Timberlake says hospitals won’t be able to handle those hospitalizations on top of the current capacity.
“We don’t have any more capacity for that next wave of a contagious illness, particularly one like the flu that can be pretty well prevented with vaccination,” she said.
DHS is urging people to get their flu and COVID vaccinations to help relieve the pressure on our healthcare systems.
It’s also asking people to wear masks in public spaces and stay home and get tested if you’re sick.
You can find a COVID vaccine appointment at vaccines.gov.
