Wisconsin COVID Patients Packing Hospitals, No Omicron Yet

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Patients with COVID-19, most of them unvaccinated, are packing Wisconsin hospitals at levels not seen for a year, a worrying development even before the new omicron variant has been detected in the state.

Amid concerns about the new and little-understood omicron variant, Wisconsin health officials on Thursday urged people to get vaccinated and take other steps to slow the spread.

The latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shows people who are not vaccinated are nearly 11 times more likely to be hospitalized and 15 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.