COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin

The COVID-19 pandemic first entered the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020.^[1] The COVID-19 was one of the leading causes of death for Wisconsin in 2020. As of July 9, 2021, almost 7,400 people in the state had died from the COVID-19 virus.^[2]

A steady upward trend for new COVID-19 cases in late June/early July 2020 began accelerating in mid July that same year. In response to July's rising cases and death tolls, the Governor Tony Evers declared a face mask mandate for all people age five and older in any building that isn't a private home.^[3]

As of July 12, 2021, over six million doses of vaccines have been given to people. Close to 48% of people in Wisconsin have completed the entire vaccines series.^[4]

On Friday, March 12, 2020, the Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency in Wisconsin.^[5] The following day, he ordered that all public and private K-12 schools across Wisconsin be closed until at least April 5.^[6]

Most university schools under the University of Wisconsin System, including Madison and Stout, canceled all in-person classes through early April 2020.^[7]

On March 16, the Governor of Wisconsin ordered a ban on gatherings of higher than ten staff members or exceeding fifty children at exactly the same time in childcare facilities.^[8]

ProPublica did an analysis of COVID-19 cases involving certain racial backgrounds in Milwaukee County dating until the morning until Friday, April 3, 2020.^[9] They noted that Blacks and African Americans were almost half the county's cases and twenty-two of that county's twenty-seven deaths. Both the county and the city of Milwaukee passed resolutions almost one year before. They also classified racial inequality as a major public health crisis even though Asian Americans and Mexican Americans live much longer than White people.

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was scheduled for July 13–16 in Milwaukee. It was later postponed and rescheduled for August 17–20 on April 2, 2020.^[10]

COVID-19 Pandemic In Wisconsin Media

Brig. Gen. Joane Mathews,*Wisconsin's deputy adjutant general for Army, answers media questions during a March 12 press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Madison.
Teens wearing face masks in Madison, Wisconsin, 2020.
A sign outside a church in Greenbush indicates the church's closing during the pandemic.
A sign upon a traffic barricade in front of a playground in Sheboygan notifies the public that the equipment is closed due to Evers's stay-at-home order, and of the consequences for violating it.
A sign for a Milwaukee/Chicago coffee shop chain in their Oconomowoc location indicates that the business has closed, their manufacturing operations will be unaffected, and employees will continue to be paid (the closure date on the sign has since extended further to the end of the stay-at-home order).
A card posted at a Milwaukee County Transit System bus stop regarding essential riding. A number of state transit systems, including MCTS, Madison Metro, Green Bay Metro, and Sheboygan's Shoreline Metro have suspended fares, reduced capacity to enforce social distancing and board passengers through only the rear bus doors during the pandemic to reduce driver contact to only that involving passengers needing assistive services and accommodations.