Wisconsin sets coronavirus testing record
Officials urge caution for holiday celebrations
As Wisconsin heads into the Memorial Day weekend, health officials continue to preach social distancing and hand-washing as residents head up north and more businesses reopen.
That includes many in Milwaukee suburbs, where stay-at-home orders across the county lifted as of midnight Thursday with the exception of the City of Milwaukee.
“Staying home is probably the safest thing that you can do this weekend,” Greenfield Health Officer Darren Raush said Thursday. “But if you must go out, be aware of your physical distancing, wear a face mask, use hand hygiene and most importantly, remain home if you're ill.”
People understandably want to visit with family and friends they may not have seen in a long time, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said.
“Believe me, I'm with you, but let's think twice,” Crowley said. “We still must remain vigilant, making sure that we're protecting one another.”
The state reported a record 9,410 test results Thursday with 472 new confirmed coronavirus cases, or about 5% of the tests run that day. That's down slightly from the 8% reported the day before.
Since the pandemic took hold in Wisconsin, 2,218 people, or about 16% of confirmed cases, have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 487 people have died. About 65% of those who have died were age 70 or older.
On Thursday, Gov. Tony Evers announced he is dispersing $100 million to nursing homes and other care facilities to fight COVID-19 from the roughly $2 billion in federal aid the state received to cope with coronavirus.
“We recognize the significant burden the COVID-19 response has placed on these providers,” Evers said in a statement. “We also recognize the integral role they play in ensuring the health and safety of some of our most vulnerable Wisconsinites.”
The announcement is the latest from Evers, who in recent days has unveiled plans to give subsidies to farmers, small businesses and renters and invest more than $1 billion in hospitals, equipment, testing and contact tracing.
New lawsuit challenges local stay-at-home orders
After the state Supreme Court struck down Evers' statewide stay-at-home order last week, a patchwork of local health orders emerged to try to limit the virus' spread.
A new federal lawsuit filed this week seeks to overturn those, too.
The suit was brought by 17 Wisconsin residents, including a pastor, a restaurant owner, a candidate for the state Assembly and Madison Elmer, who organized an April 24 protest that drew about 1,500 people to the Capitol.
“The local orders unlawfully interfere with plaintiffs’ rights to work and to worship, to gather and assemble, in violation of their federal constitutional rights,” wrote their attorney, Joseph Voiland, a former Ozaukee County judge who previously had challenged the order by the Evers administration in a separate lawsuit.
Several local jurisdictions, including the City of Milwaukee and Dane County, instituted their own orders after the court ruling.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he was confident the city’s order will withstand a challenge and compared the health order limiting gatherings to fire codes that set occupancy capacity limits.
“If in fact what we’re doing is wrong, then I think you have to question whether health departments anywhere have a right to exist or fire codes have a right to exist,” Barrett said.
The city’s stay-athome order will continue this weekend, even as suburban municipalities in Milwaukee County will allow remaining businesses to open Friday.
“There’s a real, I think, frustration, there’s real angst of ‘isn’t this over with?” Barrett said. “We have to recognize there are a lot of people that are still very much in harm’s way.”
The city issued an updated order Thursday afternoon that allows all businesses including gyms to reopen in some fashion, but still bans inperson dining at restaurants and bars.
Barrett said city officials will reassess the situation May 28 and each Friday afterward, evaluating the percentage of positive cases, death rates, hospitalizations and other factors.
“My goal is next Friday to have all sorts of good news where we will be able to announce a gradual reopening of a number of establishments,” he said Thursday. “If I have my druthers, it will include churches, it will include restaurants and bars, but this not an announcement.”
County officials also are taking steps to allow residents who pay property taxes on installments to defer some of those payments without accruing interest or penalties.
The waiver, however, wouldn’t apply retroactively to missed or late payments for property tax installments due before April 1. If the measure is approved at the county level, each municipality would then have to pass a similar measure.
The goal is to help property owners struggling with the severe economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. New data released Thursday showed an estimated one in seven workers in Wisconsin lost their jobs in April.
Patrick Marley, Alison Dirr and Guy Boulton of the Journal Sentinel staff and Madeline Heim of the USA TODAY NetworkWisconsin contributed to this report.