MADISON – Today, Governor Tony Evers released Executive Order #90, Declaring a Public Health Emergency due to the dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin among young people, and Emergency Order #1, creating a new statewide mandatory mask order for indoor spaces open to the public. Both orders are effective immediately and will expire after sixty days or with a subsequent superseding order. The governor previously declared a public health emergency under Executive Order #82, which remains in effect. Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) released the following statement:
“This month, we entered a new and dangerous phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin. Since the school year started, we have seen a massive spike in new cases, especially among young adults, making Wisconsin one of the states with the fastest growing COVID-19 case reproduction rate in the county,” Neubauer said. “We know that many of these cases are happening on college campuses around the state, but the fact is that it isn’t just young people being affected and infected. Community spread in one part of our community or our state affects all of us, because COVID is spread so easily.”
Wisconsin is now experiencing unprecedented, near-exponential growth of the COVID-19 pandemic with the daily number of new cases rising from 678 on August 31st to 1,791 on September 21st, a 2.6-fold increase in three weeks, driven in part by the unprecedented number of infections among 18-24 year-olds.
“The last six months have been long and difficult, but we cannot let our guard down as cases surge. We must continue to adapt together and fight back against a pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 in the U.S. and more than 1,200 of our fellow Wisconsinites.
“It is on all of us to fight back against this pandemic. While we were making good progress in cutting down COVID transmission in August, the back-to-school surge means we need to double down on precautions like masking. It is absolutely critical that we get this virus under control on our campuses as quickly as possible to help prevent the further spread of this virus in communities across our state.
“Mask up, social distance in public, wash your hands, and limit social gatherings whenever possible so we can protect our vulnerable friends, family, and neighbors and ensure our health system isn’t overwhelmed as cold and flu season begins.”
For further information regarding Executive Order #90, visit here. Emergency Order #1 is available here.
