COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
[5] In response to July's rising case and death tolls, Governor Tony Evers issued a face mask mandate for all citizens over age 5 while in any building that is not a private home.
Columnist Michael Tomasky argues that insisting on the right to infect someone else with a deadly disease is not a conservative principle and is in fact the opposite of freedom for the victim.
[5] In response to July's rising case and death tolls, Governor Tony Evers issued a face mask mandate for all citizens over age 5 while in any enclosed space that is not a private home.
[22] On August 11, the Pierce County Health Department announced 23 cases among residents and staff at an assisted living facility, and three deaths.
[26] On September 9, after two days of a test positivity rate over 20%, the University of Wisconsin-- Madison announced it would pause in-person instruction for two weeks.
The governor's office announced a statewide order to limit indoor mass gatherings that went into effect on October 8, prompting a lawsuit to strike down the new mask mandate and restrictions.
According to the governor's office the May ruling from the state supreme court that stopped stay-at-home orders from going into effect in the early months of the pandemic did not impact the Department of Health Services authority under existing statutes to impose restrictions on mass gatherings.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted an injunction in favor of the schools and families pending a review of a similar case in Dane County.
In late December, a pharmacist with Aurora Health Care allegedly deliberately allowed 57 vials (570 doses) of a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to spoil by leaving them out of refrigeration for two nights.
[54] 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.
[59] On May 14 Mike Wiza, mayor of Stevens Point said they had still not received any guidance from the legislature, which made it "very, very difficult" for local law enforcement and the health department.
[64] 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.
[65] Authorities also refused to delay the election, despite the ban on gatherings with over ten persons, even though 111 jurisdictions did not have enough people to staff even a single polling place, and with 60% of all Wisconsin towns and cities were reporting staffing shortages.
[67] On July 30, Governor Evers declared a public health emergency and issued an emergency order requiring people to wear a face mask in public indoor spaces[68] Many cities and counties including Green Bay, Superior, Racine, Whitewater and Milwaukee and Dane Counties had already implemented mask mandates before the statewide order was issued.
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.
[82] After Governor Evers issued another order in October 2020 limiting the number of people allowed to gather in public locations, the Tavern League of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in Sawyer County.
League president Chris Marsicano stated "Restaurants, taverns, bars, and supper clubs did not cause this pandemic, but they are systematically facing bankruptcy, closure, and economic ruin".
[76] A few days later, Judge James Babler of Barron County reinstated the order stating "Plaintiffs and interveners have not shown that they are entitled to a temporary injunction".
Concerns raised by the protesters included the difficulty for parents that are employed and being able to work with the virtual learning arrangements, as well as social and emotional well-being of the students.
[93] Prior to the first confirmed case in Door County, hundreds of vehicles with out-of-state license plates were seen across multiple communities, even though the shops were still boarded up for the winter.
[99] The Communications and Public Relations Director of the Door County Visitor Bureau expressed concern about what locals were posting on social media and warned people to "mind your Ps and Qs" because it would impact traveler sentiment.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted an injunction in favor of the schools and families pending a review of a similar case in Dane County.
[101] 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).
[115] With Wisconsin grappling with their own pandemic, state Democratic lawmakers made several attempts to postpone their election, but were prevented by other Republican legislators.
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.
[119] 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.
[120][121] 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.
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.
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.
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.
