For the third Saturday in a row and the second time this week health officials reported a record number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin.

The Department of Health Services reported 978 more people have tested positive for COVID-19, which makes up 7.9% of the 12,424 tests processed since Friday.

The previous record for most new cases reported in a single day was set Tuesday, when the state reported 964 new confirmed cases of the virus. Last Saturday, July 11, 926 new confirmed cases were reported and on July 4, there were 738 new cases.

The state also reported 10 more COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, bringing the state's total to 843. La Crosse County reported its first confirmed death on Saturday, according to the state Health Department.

As of Saturday, 41,485 people in Wisconsin have tested positive for COVID-19.

As of Saturday, around 77% of all people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Wisconsin had recovered. There are 8,633active cases, or nearly 21%. The remaining 2% of people have died, according to the state Health Department.

Statewide, 315 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of Saturday morning, which is 51morepeople than were hospitalized last Saturday, according to theWisconsin Hospital Association. Of those patients, 90are in the intensive care unit, another increase from last Saturday, when 75 people were in the ICU. More than 150 patients are waiting for the results ofCOVID-19 test.

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Most counties were deemed to have "high" COVID-19 activity in the state Health Department's weekly ratings, released Wednesday. The ratings are based on a combination of total new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks and the percent change in new cases between the past seven days and the seven days before that.

County ratings were as follows (parentheses reflect a change in the activity level from last week's ratings):

Contact Natalie Brophy at 715-216-5452 or nbrophy@gannett.com. Followher on Twitter @brophy_natalie.

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COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Wisconsin as state reports 978 more people have tested positive - Appleton Post Crescent