In Dane County, COVID had a significant breakout in June, which then was followed by a mask mandate, indoor bars being closed, and capacities of other indoor businesses cut back. And it seems to be working.
Milwaukee also put in a mask mandate about 2 weeks ago, and we saw the amount of new cases in the County decline off of its peak, although there still have been more than 2,000 new COVID cases in the last week.
Brown County also had slightly fewer new cases in the last week compared to the week before. So why is Wisconsin seeing record amounts of new cases, with multiple days of more than 1,000 positive COVID tests? Because the largest areas of the 262 are now in a breakout, especially in Waukesha County, where new cases went from less than 300 in the first week of July to nearly 900 in the last week of the month.
Waukesha County was also the place where a pastor told local officials that mask mandates led to other losses of liberty, like the Holocaust. The City of Brookfield responded to that statement by rejecting the mask mandate, by the way.
We're also seeing mid-size counties along Highway 41 between Milwaukee and Green Bay have increasing amounts of cases, with Outagamie and Washington Counties hitting new highs well into the triple digits last week.
We can only hope that Dane County is the leading indicator, and that other places in the state start seeing new cases drop as well. But as of the end of July, it's not happening yet, and if we're going to get back toward anything resembling normal in Wisconsin by the time schools are set to start in early September, it needs to start dropping soon.
I take absolutely no pleasure in anyone getting COVID, but there may be a positive to this. Now that Republican voters are getting sick, maybe the legislature will actually do something. It was easy to sit by and watch when it seemed that only minorities, liberals, and the poor were dying. But for Trump to have any hope of winning Wisconsin in November, local politicians better make sure that conservatives stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteThere was just an article out yesterday that said the only reason Trump was trying to act normal on COVID 19 for a few days was because someone showed him information that indicated "his people" in Wisconsin and the rest of the Upper Midwest were now getting stricken.
DeleteThis is who they are, folks.
And here's a recent op-ed by UW-Milwaukee professprs that quotes a study which says a US mask mandate would prevent the loss of $1 trillion in national income.
ReplyDeleteWe won't get a national mandate, but ut sure seems like it's time for Evers to put it in for Wisconsin.
Here’s what I can see happening: Evers declares a mask mandate in August. Republicans in the legislature predictably go apeshit and take it to the Supreme Court. With Jill Karofsky having just been sworn in, if Brian Hagedorn once again shocks the world and votes with the progressives, Wisconsin has a statewide mask mandate. Republicans in the legislature then privately breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that any blowback will be directed at the unelected court, and our local Trump voters will be kept healthy for November, in spite of themselves.
DeleteNice call, Tom.
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