Health officials link COVID-19 cases to voting in Wisconsin
Seven people infected after voters forced to wait in lines for hours
MADISON, WIS.—Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who may have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread concern about the public health risks.
The infections involve six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, where difficulty finding poll workers forced the city to pare nearly 200 voting locations back to just five, and where voters were forced to wait in long lines for hours.
It’s not certain that the seven people contracted the virus at the polls. The possible connection was made because local health officials are now asking newly infected people whether they participated in the election.
“It means they were at the polls, which is a potential exposure, but (we) can’t say they definitely got it at the polls,” said Darren Rauch, the health officer/director for suburban Greenfield, and one of the health officials helping with the coronavirus response in the Milwaukee area.
Milwaukee officials are still gathering information from about 70 per cent of people who have tested positive since the election and hope to have a full report later this week, city health commissioner Jeanette Kowalik said.
The election, which included a presidential primary as well as a state Supreme Court race and local offices, took place after a legal struggle between Democrats and Republicans. A day before the election, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers ordered that it be delayed and shifted to allmail voting, only to be overturned when Republican legislative leaders won an appeal in the state’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court.
Thousands of Wisconsin voters stayed home, unwilling to risk their health and unable to be counted because requested absentee ballots never arrived.
State health officials had warned of an expected increase in infections from the election. State health secretary Andrea Palm said Monday that they had not shown up, but noted that symptoms may not have surfaced yet.