COVID-19 Wisconsin
COVID-19 rises again as rapidly spreading Delta mutation takes hold
Wisconsin’s daily count of new COVID-19 cases has nearly tripled in the last two weeks, and for state health officials, that trend added urgency Thursday to their longstanding plea for more people to get vaccinated. The state’s seven-day average of confirmed cases Thursday was 242 cases per day, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy secretary […]
State’s struggling timber industry to get pandemic relief money
Wisconsin loggers and timber haulers could share in a federal pandemic relief fund of up to $200 million that was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program in a conference call Tuesday with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and […]
The pandemic has gotten better. It’s still not over.
Sixteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic Wisconsin’s rates of infection, hospitalization and death are continuing to decline, half of the people in the state who are eligible have had at least one shot of the vaccine and increasingly the world is looking like it’s getting back to normal. It isn’t. COVID-19 hasn’t gone away — […]
New Delta coronavirus strain surfaces, heightening importance of COVID vaccine
The newest coronavirus variant has surfaced in Wisconsin, and the state will begin tracking its presence in case counts, health officials reported Wednesday. The finding reinforces the importance of getting a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health Services (DHS). DHS reported that 26 cases of people infected with the new […]
Wisconsin jobs recovery falters in March as pandemic lingers
Wisconsin unemployment rate leveled out at 3.8% in March, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) reported Thursday, but still higher than the state’s pre-pandemic rate a year ago. While the state’s March jobless rate was well below the national rate of 6%, it was unchanged from February, evidence of a slowing recovery in the battle […]
Sen. Chris Larson reports a positive COVID test, will isolate
State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said Wednesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus, requiring him to isolate himself until the infection clears in the coming weeks. The diagnosis Wednesday followed a positive test in his 6-year-old daughter, Larson said, and came after a small socially distanced gathering involving the children of friends. Everyone was […]
High court rules against Evers on defunct capacity limit
An Evers administration attempt in October to blunt a rising case count of COVID-19 infections should have gone through the state’s rulemaking process, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The 4-3 decision, written by Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, upheld a lower court ruling, which had cut short an order that the state’s top health officer […]
Evers finds end run to save $70M in monthly federal food support
A battle over federal food aid that Wisconsin appeared to have lost took a new twist Tuesday, as Gov. Tony Evers announced a deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep $70 million per month of additional food aid coming to the state. The aid was tied to the federal pandemic state of emergency […]
Mutant strains help drive continued jump in COVID-19 cases
Variant strains of the coronavirus now account for more than half of new cases of COVID-19, and the average number of new infections each day has doubled in the last month, state health officials said Thursday. And while a 4-3 majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ended the statewide mask mandate a week ago, the […]
Not a COVID-19 surge yet — but the risk of one is increasing
Some time in mid-January, some people in Wisconsin who were wearing face masks stopped doing so — and every day, a few more people gave them up. In early February, people started traveling more, and longer distances. By a week before St. Patrick’s Day, the state’s steady decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases […]
With an eye on rising case numbers, health officials urge continued caution
With the onset of spring weather and no statewide mask order now in place, public health officials are reiterating the importance of adhering to behaviors that will prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On Friday, Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) announced that it was relaxing some public health restrictions, including ending an outdoor […]
State Supreme Court ends health emergency, mask order
Gov. Tony Evers’ successive health emergencies in response to the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 were unlawful after the first one expired, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, ending the current statewide mask requirement just a few days before it was due to expire. The current health emergency declaration, Executive Order 105 — issued after […]