COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin

Brig. Gen. Joane Mathews, Wisconsin's deputy adjutant general for Army, answers media questions during a March 12 press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Madison.

On March 10, the Osceola School District closed schools to sanitize the buildings and buses after a person who attended a regional sports tournament was found to be infected.[12]

On March 12, Governor Tony Evers declared a State of Emergency.[13] The next day, he ordered the closure of all public and private K-12 schools in the state until at least April 5.[14] Most schools in the University of Wisconsin System, including Madison[15] and Stout,[16] have cancelled all in-person classes through early April.

On March 16, Evers announced restrictions on the number of people that could be present at childcare facilities, limiting it to 10 staff and 50 children at the same time.[17]

On March 17, a statewide ban of all gatherings with more than 10 people was announced by the governor.[18]

On March 23, Evers announced closures of all non-essential businesses to be signed on Tuesday, March 24, and urged citizens to stay at home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.[19]

On March 27, Governor Evers asked the legislature to approve a plan to send every registered voter in the state an absentee ballot so they could vote in the Democratic and Republican primaries, scheduled for April 7, by mail. Republicans opposed the plan. In Green Bay a judge turned down a request to delay the election but other lawsuits move forward.[20] Authorities also refused to delay the election, despite the ban on gatherings over ten and the fact that 111 jurisdictions that do not have enough people to staff even one polling place, and 60% of all Wisconsin towns and cities were reporting staffing shortages.[21]

On April 16, the 'Safer At Home' order was extended to be in effect until May 26.[22]

On April 17, Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said he planned not to enforce the 'Safer At Home' order, stating constitutional rights of citizens as his reasoning.[23] His declaration is similar to concerns raised by four sheriffs in the state of Michigan.[24]

On April 21, the Wisconsin state legislature filed suit with the state supreme court, against the governor's 'Safer At Home' order calling the executive order an overreach of the executive branch's statutory powers.[25]

On April 24, Hartford Mayor Tim Michalak announced that businesses would be allowed to re-open on Monday April 27, despite the 'Safer-At-Home' order issued by Governor Evers. He directed the police department not to enforce the 'Safer-At-Home' order.[26]

On May 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Evers 'Safer-At-Home' orders as unconstitutional. The order, issued by Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm, was ruled by the court to be "unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable".[27] Dane County reissued the 'Safer-At-Home' for themselves in response to the state supreme court's decision to strike down Governor Evers' order.[28][29]

One week after the Supreme Court decision Wisconsin reported 528 new COVID-19 cases, the largest single day rise in new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.[30] The second, third, fourth and fifth highest numbers of new cases also occurred in the ten day period after the Court overruled Governor Evers' "Safer-At-Home" orders. However, average daily tests increased by an average of over 1000 tests per day state wide, while the average percentage of positive test results dropped by 25% during this same 1 week period.[31][2]

By May 27, two weeks after the Supreme Court overruled Governor Evers' "Safer-At-Home" orders, the seven-day moving average number of new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin had climbed steadily from 286 to 436 cases per day.[2] The seven day moving average of new cases subsequently decreased to 313 by June 10th. In the two weeks preceding June 10th, the percent positivity of Covid PCR tests decreased from 4.8% to 2.8%, which also suggests that new Covid cases are decreasing. [32]The seven day average number of COVID-19 deaths remained fairly steady at 7-8 per day.[33]

In June 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a report indicating that there was no evidence repealing the 'Safer-At-Home' order impacted social distancing, COVID-19 cases, or COVID-19 death rate.[34]

In mid-June 2020, Racine County judge Jon Fredrickson issued a temporary injunction against the city of Racine's "Forward Racine" order. The order limited certain businesses such as gyms, restaurants, and bowling alleys to a capacity of 25% or a maximum of ten persons. The plaintiff, David Yandell, claimed that the order jeopardized his business's ability to survive.[35]

After it was announced that Governor Evers would extend the 'Safer At Home' executive order to May 26, the Tavern League of Wisconsin responded by expressing concerns about the devastating effect on the hospitality industry adversely affected by the order. Executive Director of the organization Pete Madland requested a 'soft opening' beginning May 1 with precautions utilized as it pertains to limiting the spread of the disease. The concern is that the original order has had adverse effects on the industry already and that another extension could cause many of the businesses within the industry to not survive.[36]

David Yandell, the owner of a gym, sued the city of Racine after the municipality issued its own stay at home order after the state supreme court struck down Governor Evers' order. Racine County judge Jon Fredrickson issued a temporary injunction against the order while a civil suit against the city is pursued.[35]

Thousands of citizens protested at the Capitol in Madison on Friday, April 24 in response to Governor Evers' extension of the 'Safer-At-Home' executive order. Among the reasons for protest include many businesses that have closed or significantly reduced the workforce, which has led to hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims. Also, churches have closed their doors and about 900,000 children are not in school.[37]

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee initially suspended all masses from March 18 through April 3. Also, Catholic schools would cease in-person instruction.[38] Archbishop Jerome Listecki later extended the suspension into Holy Week, including Easter Mass, choosing to live stream all such ceremonies from an otherwise empty Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (The archdiocese then paid for time on WVTV and WISN-TV to telecast both the Good Friday and Easter Masses live across the entire Milwaukee market).[39] In early May, Archbishop Listecki announced that masses could resume May 31 with churches filled at 25% capacity and lifting dispensation for Mass to July 5.[40]

Racial disparities

ProPublica conducted an analysis[43] of the racial composition of COVID-19 cases in Milwaukee County dating through the morning of April 3, 2020. They noted that African Americans comprised nearly half of the county's cases and 22 of the county's 27 deaths.[43] Both the county[44] and city of Milwaukee[45] passed resolutions in May and June 2019, respectively, declaring racial inequality to be a public health crisis.

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled for July 13–16 in Milwaukee at the Fiserv Forum arena, was but postponed to August 17–20 on April 2.[46][47]

In Wisconsin, the April 7 election for a state Supreme Court seat, the federal presidential primaries for both the Democratic and Republican parties, and several other judicial and local elections went ahead as scheduled.

Due to the pandemic, at least fifteen other U.S. states canceled or postponed scheduled elections or primaries at the time of Wisconsin's election.[48] With Wisconsin grappling with their own pandemic, state Democratic lawmakers made several attempts to postpone their election, but were prevented by other Republican legislators. Governor Tony Evers called the Wisconsin legislature into a special session on April 4, but the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate gaveled their sessions in and out within seventeen seconds.[49] In a joint statement afterward, Wisconsin's state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald criticized Evers for attempting to postpone the election, for not calling a special session earlier, and for reversing his previous position on keeping the election date intact.[50]

On April 6, Evers attempted to move the election by an executive order, but was blocked by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. On the same day, a separate effort to extend the deadline for mailing absentee ballots was blocked by the Supreme Court of the United States in a 5–4 vote. In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned that the ruling "will result in massive disenfranchisement."[51] The only major concession achieved was that absentee ballots postmarked by April 7 at 8 p.m. would be accepted until April 13.[52] However, local media outlets reported that many voters had not received their requested absentee ballots by election day or, due to social distancing, were unable to satisfy a legal requirement that they obtain a witness's signature.[53][54]

Lawmakers' decision to not delay the election was sharply criticized by the editorial board of the local Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which had previously endorsed the Republican former governor Scott Walker.[55] They called the election "the most undemocratic in the state's history."[56] The New York Times characterized the election as "almost certain to be tarred as illegitimate," adding that the inability of the state's lawmakers to come to an agreement on moving the election was "an epic and predictable failure." The newspaper placed the political maneuvering as part of another chapter in "a decade of bitter partisan wrangling that saw [state Republicans] clinically attack and defang the state's Democratic institutions, starting with organized labor and continuing with voting laws making it far harder for poor and black residents of urban areas to vote."[57] Republicans believed that holding the election on April 7, when Democratic-leaning urban areas were hard-hit by the pandemic, would help secure them political advantages like a continued 5–2 conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court (through the elected seat of Daniel Kelly).[55][58]

When the election went ahead on April 7, access to easy in-person voting heavily depended on the area. In smaller or more rural communities, few issues were reported.[58][59] In more urbanized areas, the pandemic forced the closure and consolidation of many polling places around the state despite the use of 2,500 National Guard members to combat a severe shortage in poll workers.[60][61] The effects were felt most heavily in Milwaukee, the state's largest city with the largest minority population and the center of the state's ongoing pandemic.[58] The city's government was only able to open 5 of 180 polling stations after being short by nearly 1,000 poll workers.[61] As a result, lengthy lines were reported, with some voters waiting for up to 2.5 hours and through rain showers.[60][62] The lines disproportionately affected Milwaukee's large Hispanic and African-American population; the latter had already been disproportionately afflicted with the coronavirus pandemic, forming nearly half of Wisconsin's documented cases and over half its deaths at the time the vote was conducted.[57][59] However, by the time the election concluded, Milwaukee Election Commissioner Neil Albrecht stated that despite some of the problems, the in-person voting ran smoothly.[63]

Similar problems with poll station closures and long lines were reported in Waukesha, where only one polling station was opened for a city of 70,000, and Green Bay, where only 17 poll workers out of 270 were able to work.[57] Other cities were able to keep lines much shorter, including the state capital of Madison, which opened about two-thirds of its usual polling locations, and Appleton, which opened all of its usual 15.[60][64]

Voters across the state were advised to maintain social distancing, wear face masks, and bring their own pens.[65] Vos, the state Assembly Speaker, served as an election inspector for in-person voting on April 7. While wearing medical-like personal protective equipment, he told reporters that it was "incredibly safe to go out" and vote, adding that voters faced "minimal exposure."[58][66]

By mid-April, health officials in Milwaukee identified at least seven new cases of COVID-19 that appear to be linked to the April 7 election; Six voters and one poll worker. Advocates of vote-by-mail say Wisconsin's experience should be a warning to other states, saying this could be "the tip of the iceberg."[67][68][69]

Most of state's sports teams were affected. Several leagues began postponing or suspending their seasons starting March 12. Major League Baseball cancelled the remainder of spring training on that date, and on March 16, they announced that the season will be postponed indefinitely, after the recommendations from the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks, affecting the Milwaukee Brewers.[70] Also on March 12, the National Basketball Association announced the season would be suspended for 30 days, affecting the Milwaukee Bucks.[71]

In college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association canceled all winter and spring tournaments, most notably the Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, affecting colleges and universities statewide.[72] On March 16, the National Junior College Athletic Association also canceled the remainder of the winter seasons as well as the spring seasons.[73]

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  A sign outside a church in Greenbush indicates the church's closing during the pandemic.
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  A sign upon a traffic barricade in front of a playground in Sheboygan notifies the public that the equipment is closed due to Evers's stay-at-home order, and of the consequences for violating it.
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  A sign for a Milwaukee/Chicago coffee shop chain in their Oconomowoc location indicates that the business has closed, their manufacturing operations will be unaffected, and employees will continue to be paid (the closure date on the sign has since extended further to the end of the stay-at-home order).
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  A card posted at a Milwaukee County Transit System bus stop regarding essential riding. A number of state transit systems, including MCTS, Madison Metro, Green Bay Metro, and Sheboygan's Shoreline Metro have suspended fares, reduced capacity to enforce social distancing and board passengers through only the rear bus doors during the pandemic to reduce driver contact to only that involving passengers needing assistive services and accommodations.

• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United States – for impact on the country
• COVID-19 pandemic – for impact on other countries
• U.S. state and local government response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Wikimedia Commons has media related to COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin.

• Coronavirus information from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Outbreaks in Wisconsin: COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus)