Coronavirus cases rise to 33 in Wisconsin
As expected, the number of people confirmed to be sick with coronavirus continued to climb in Wisconsin, with one-third in Fond du Lac County including several who traveled on the same Nile River cruise in Egypt.
Of the 33 confirmed cases as of Sunday in Wisconsin, 11 are from Fond du Lac County, where nine residents who traveled on a cruise together in Egypt have all tested positive.
One of the confirmed cases was a Wauwatosa resident who recently returned from a trip overseas.
This weekend, many who went to their places of faith for the first time since the outbreak began spreading in Wisconsin listened to sermons filled with hope and solace for such difficult times. Many did not go to their places of worship, instead watching clergy speak via live stream or video.
“We’re not the same world, or the same city, or the same church as we were last Sunday. Last Sunday, you all came in hugging and kissing and shaking hands,” said Parklawn Assembly of
God Bishop Walter Harvey.
As Illinois and Ohio shuttered all restaurants and bars, the question was: would Wisconsin do the same? Particularly with St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, normally a huge holiday in Milwaukee with many bars and restaurants packed by tipsy revelers swilling Guinness and green beer.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said on Sunday that people should not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in big groups.
“We do not want large crowds of people. You can see this going around the world — large groups of people are being discouraged and I would discourage that as well,” the mayor said Sunday afternoon at City Hall.
New recommendations Sunday from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention urged people not to gather in groups of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks. That included concerts, plays, weddings, conferences, sporting events, festivals and parades.
City of Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik reiterated that social distancing is an important and effective way to prevent the spread of coronavirus. So gathering in a packed bar on St. Patrick’s Day is “selfish,” Kowalik said. “You can celebrate St. Paddy’s in smaller groups.”
Stocking up for a small St. Patrick’s Day gathering? It’s best not to delay since some grocery chains are reducing hours to give employees time to replenish shelves.
Milwaukee-area Pick ‘n Save and Walmart stores announced closing times will be moved up. Wisconsin Kroger stores like Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market will close at 10 p.m., effective immediately, to clean and restock shelves.
Many store closing times were at 10 p.m., but a few Pick ‘n Save stores in Milwaukee usually close at 11 p.m. Walmart is also reducing hours at stores that previously did not close.
While some suburban libraries have already closed their doors, all Milwaukee Public libraries will shut down Monday through March 29 except for Zablocki Library, which is an early voting site. The downtown Central Library’s drive-up service is also temporarily suspended while the staff assesses the risk for contamination.
“This was an extremely difficult decision, as we know how many people rely on the library,” said City Librarian Paula Kiely.
Among the many closings are Illinois Tollway booths where workers make change for those who don’t have an IPASS. Effective immediately folks traveling on the Illinois Tollway will not be able to pay with cash, only online or with an I-PASS, until further notice.
That doesn’t mean no tolls will be collected. Travelers using the Illinois Tollway must pay online.
Traveling by plane has not been easy especially for international travelers. Like Milwaukee sales representative Jess Loss.
Loss, 67, flew to Stavanger, Norway, on Tuesday to ski in the 54-kilometer Birkebeinerrennet, the Norwegian version of the classic ski race held each year in northern Wisconsin. The day before he left Milwaukee, the race was canceled, but Loss went anyway to visit his nephew.
“Once I got over there,” Loss said, “it was like every day something else gets canceled, something worse happens.”
The worst, though, didn’t happen until he tried to fly home. Loss caught a 6 a.m. Saturday flight from Norway and landed at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport around 4 p.m.
Loss and thousands of other passengers encountered long, slow-moving U.S. Customs lines. He waited for almost two hours to get his passport stamped, then was directed to a second line which took almost the same amount of time. In that line, officials only asked Loss his name, address and phone number.
“Everyone accepted their fate,” Loss said. “No one was angry or shouting.”
After customs, Loss encountered masked CDC workers who took the temperatures of passengers and asked if they felt OK or had traveled to China or Iran.
Passengers were also told to continue taking their temperatures and to see their doctor if it exceeded 100.4 degrees.
Loss left O’Hare around 8 p.m. and got a ride home from his brother.
“You feel like, ‘Whoah, man, I shouldn’t have gone in the first place,’ “Loss said. “The country is going through and the world is going through this — I don’t know what you’d call it — existential crisis. I guess my generation, we never went through the Great Depression or World War II. These days you don’t know what the worst thing is going to be.”