All Wisconsin Bars, Restaurants To Close; 72 Coronavirus Cases

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has ordered all bars and restaurants in Wisconsin closed by 5 p.m. Tuesday and is limiting public gatherings to no more than 10 people out of a precaution to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19 in the state.

"We believe this step will take us a long way down the road," Evers said in a Tuesday afternoon conference call between Wisconsin Department of Health Services officials, himself and the media. "It's about individuals making sure that children are taken care of. If everybody pulls together on this, we should be in pretty good shape."

Under the ban, Wisconsin bars and restaurants will be able to offer take-out and delivery options.

Health officials said that Wisconsin has 72 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. Milwaukee has seen the biggest increase, with 11 new cases, Dane County has nine more, there are four more in Kenosha County, and one new case in both Waukesha and Outagamie Counties.

"We have evidence of community spread in Milwaukee, Dane, and Kenosha counties. This means that there are people who have tested positive, and it is unknown what their exposures have been. They have had no exposures to a known case and have not traveled to a location where there is community transmission," Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said.

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During the call, Evers said schools would remain closed until further notice. Last week Thursday, Evers said schools would re-open after April 6. Today's announcement replaces the previous edict.

Tuesday's announcements come less than 24 hours after state officials limited public gatherings to less than 50 people. During Monday's press conference, a news reporter asked Evers whether he would follow President Donald Trump's recommendation that limited public gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Evers told the reporter that Trump's recommendation, made at the same time as the Wisconsin press call, was just a guideline. On Tuesday, that guideline became an official state order.

On Monday night, 11 of Milwaukee's 19 municipalities agreed to limit restaurant and bar patronage to carry-out and delivery services.

Testing Kit Shortages

Palm said the state will be prioritizing testing for COVID-19 because of a shortage of ingredients needed to run the tests.

"Many states across the country are grappling with this same problem," Palm said. "We have been working with partners in the private sector and public universities to try to get the ingredients needed to run these tests. We are working with our partners to ensure that we can continue to run testing."

"The state public health lab can now test 400 cases per day, seven days per week," Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologists for Communicable Diseases at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Monday. Westergaard said there is not enough capacity to test everyone who has a wide variety of symptoms. Most of people who have a cold, Westergaard said, should self-isolate. "We must prioritize for people who have been hospitalized."

Today, I directed @DHSWI to issue an agency order mandating the closure of all K-12 Wisconsin schools, public and private, as part of our efforts to respond to and contain the spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin.
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/GovEvers/s... 13, 2020

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What To Do If You Think You Have COVID-19

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, if residents have questions or immediate needs related to COVID-19, they can:

• Text COVID19 to 211-211
• Visit 211Wisconsin.org
• Call 211

State health officials said that call volumes are high, and to please be patient and try to use the text or online options first. If you are experiencing signs and symptoms of COVID-19, please call your health care provider, health officials said.

"To prevent illness, wash your hands often, cover coughs and sneezes, clean frequently touched surfaces every day, and stay home when you are sick. Learn the best way to protect yourself and those around you from respiratory illnesses," health officials said.