Wisconsin Has Second-Fastest COVID-19 Spread In U.S.: Study

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin has the second-fastest COVID-19 spread in the U.S., according to an ongoing study that measures how many people become infected by an infectious person.

According to TechCrunch, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger created Rt.live, a live COVID-19 tracker that measures the spread of the virus using open-source data.

Data posted on Rt.live shows that an average of 1.31 people in Wisconsin become infected by a person who already has COVID-19. Only Montana ranked higher, with an average of 1.34 people.

According to RT.live, if the number is above 1.0, COVID-19 is expected to spread quickly. If it's below 1.0, it means infection rates will slow.

Connecticut ranked as having the slowest COVID-19 spread. Only 0.84 people become infected by an infectious person. That means not every infectious person spread the virus to somebody else. In Wisconsin, by comparison, an infectious person spreads the virus at least one other person, and sometimes two on average.

Maine, New Hampshire, the District of Columbia, Utah, Rhode Island, Maryland and Illinois had numbers below 1.0.

COVID-19 By The Numbers

All statistics are via the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and are updated to July 8.

• Two new deaths were reported Wednesday. There are now a total of 807 coronavirus-related deaths in Wisconsin.
• Over the last week, 21 people have died of COVID-19.
• Wisconsin reported a positive test rate of 5.5 percent over the last 24 hours.
• Over the last 24 hours, there were 10,736 people tested in Wisconsin.
• There have been 598 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours.
• The rolling 7-day average for new COVID-19 cases is 565, which is just off the record established on July 6.