Alarming new records have already been set this month in Wisconsin when it comes to the coronavirus. As of Tuesday, Oct. 6, 136,379 people in Wisconsin have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 1,399 have died from COVID-19. The current situation has prompted Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to call this a crisis.
"Today, we are in a worse place than we were in March. The disease activity level of COVID-19 in Wisconsin is so high that going to a gathering puts you at very high risk of exposure," she said at a media briefing Tuesday. According to Palm, in March at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a collective effort to stay home and slow the spread of the coronavirus, or "flatten the curve."
People were taking precautions to protect the healthcare system and public health infrastructure under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' safer-at-home order. Evers said today that collective action has waned, which is being reflected in the numbers. "It is simply not enough to only wear a mask. We need folks to take further action to help stop the spread of this virus and flatten the curve," he said.
In an effort to grapple with the state's rising numbers, Evers has issued a new emergency order limiting occupancy in indoor spaces to no more than 25% capacity.
