COVID-19
After family links child’s death to COVID-19, Fort Atkinson school board approves mask mandate
The Fort Atkinson school board has instituted a mask requirement for the school district after the reported death of a 13-year-old student from COVID-19. During public comments Thursday night, parents in the district pleaded with the board to start requiring masks, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday. The board subsequently approved a requirement by a […]
Arizona attorney general first to sue over Biden vaccine mandate on private businesses
WASHINGTON — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Tuesday filed the first lawsuit against the Biden administration’s upcoming COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private companies with at least 100 employees, arguing that the federal requirement violates the U.S. Constitution. In the legal complaint, Brnovich argues that the vaccine mandate President Joe Biden announced last week violates […]
Data show children are an increasing share of COVID-19 patients
In keeping with other parts of the country, COVID-19 is affecting a growing number of younger children in Wisconsin. “The proportion of total cases in Milwaukee County that are comprised of kids under the age of 18 has been increasing,” said Darren Rausch, the health director for the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield, at a Milwaukee […]
Local, tribal health agencies to get $58.4M for COVID-19 response efforts
Local and tribal health departments will share in $58.4 million awarded from Wisconsin’s share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act to help them absorb the added costs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Tony Evers announced the public health funding program Monday morning. Each department’s share will include a base amount and an […]
No masks may mean fines, lawsuits and lost school insurance
The television cameras were rolling as students boarded the yellow buses at Germantown’s Kennedy Middle School without face masks. Nor was a bus driver wearing his mask as he pulled away. Milwaukee WTMJ 4 interviewed Germantown Superintendent Brett Stousland who only said that the district “recommended” masks. Stousland stated to the camera that he was […]
Deaths increase, hospitals fill up as new COVID-19 surge continues across Wisconsin
A week into September and a new school year, the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin is continuing to dig in. Every indicator of the spread of the coronavirus, still driven by the more virulent delta variant, is up, according to state and local public health agencies, continuing a new surge of infections that began in July […]
COVID-19 vaccines or weekly tests to be mandated for millions of U.S. workers
WASHINGTON — More than 80 million employees of private businesses in the U.S. will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing as part of the Biden administration’s latest strategy for combating the still-surging coronavirus pandemic. The upcoming vaccine rule for companies with at least 100 employees is one plank of an increasingly […]
Nass asks Republican leadership to sue UW System over COVID mask mandates
Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) wants to pick a fight with Tommy Thompson. Last month, Nass and his fellow Republicans on the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules passed a motion attempting to force all UW System COVID-19 policies to first be approved by the committee. Thompson, the interim president of the UW System and […]
COVID cases up heading into Labor Day
Wisconsin COVID-19 infections were continuing to rise on the eve of a three-day weekend when families and friends often gather to mark the close of summer. As of Friday, the state’s seven-day average for new cases stood at 1,702 per day, according to the latest update from the state Department of Health Services (DHS). Earlier […]
Report: For working Wisconsin, ‘new normal’ must mean big changes
More jobs, but not a full recovery. Better wages, but fewer unions — and, as a consequence, weaker protections for workers. And gaping inequalities by race and ethnicity. That’s the picture painted in the 2021 edition of the State of Working Wisconsin, an annual assessment that COWS, a University of Wisconsin research and policy center, […]
UW-Madison reports 90% of campus is fully vaccinated
Less than a week before classes begin, UW-Madison reported that 90% of its campus community is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The school has reached a high vaccination rate despite UW System leadership shying away from vaccine mandates — even though other, similarly sized Big Ten universities have gone ahead with vaccine requirements. As of Sept. […]
Federal judge tells lawyers he will issue COVID-19 vaccine orders for his courtroom
Citing the rapidly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus, a Milwaukee-based federal judge told lawyers Wednesday he will issue orders requiring anyone who appears in his courtroom to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccine. “There is an increasing risk that legal proceedings will be interrupted by COVID-19 infections, as judicial staff, case participants, or jury […]