Governor Evers Says Statewide Mask Mandate is Unlikely
Wednesday, July 8th, 2020 -- 9:06 AM
(AP) -Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he was considering a statewide mask mandate, but after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down his “safer at home” order in May, a new one requiring masks to be worn is “unlikely.”“We really don’t know if I have the authority to do that,” Evers said on a conference call while encouraging everyone to stay at home and wear a mask. He urged people not to politicize the wearing of masks, saying COVID-19 “doesn’t give a crap about whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican.” The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Wisconsin has nearly doubled in a little over a month. It took five months to get 16,500 confirmed cases, and since Memorial Day there have been nearly 17,000 confirmed cases. Testing has increased as well. Evers, in urging people to remain vigilant and stay at home, said the spike must be reversed. He singled out people in their 20s to “step up” and take the virus seriously. “It’s not worth it,” he said. “No party, no bar, is worth it.” The order from Public Health Madison and Dane County takes effect Monday. It’s the first community to issue a mask requirement in Wisconsin, but it’s unlikely to be the last. Milwaukee is also discussing taking similar steps. “Public health research now shows that face coverings are critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Janel Heinrich, director of Public Health Madison and Dane County, said in a statement.
Dane County is the state’s second-largest, with more than 500,000 people, and is home to the state capital of Madison as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, which plans to reopen to students in the fall. The order comes after Dane County closed bars for indoor service and tightened limits on gatherings last week as confirmed cases rose. The order applies to anyone who is age 5 or older. People with health conditions that prevent them from wearing masks are exempt. Masks would have to be worn by anyone visiting another person’s home, but not inside their own residence. Also on Tuesday, Evers announced that the state will be distributing more than 2 million cloth masks and more than 4,200 infrared thermometers to K-12 schools, and about 60,000 masks to local food processors and businesses. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also said it will not release the names of businesses and other places where there have been at least two confirmed cases of the coronavirus after business groups and Republican lawmakers opposed the idea.
The state chamber of commerce, the Wisconsin Grocers Association, and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association all raised concerns last week about the impact it would have on businesses. After receiving feedback, the Department of Health Services has “no immediate plans to list businesses with COVID-19 positives on our website,” said agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Goodsitt in an email Tuesday. That said, names of businesses could still be made public through open records requests filed by journalists and others, she said. The state health department has 361 investigations into coronavirus outbreaks at workplaces and “other settings” that exclude facilities related to health care. There have been 507 investigations in total at non-healthcare facilities, according to the department’s website. The department does name nursing homes with active investigations.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.