DHS: 11,685 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Wisconsin

There are 11,685 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Friday, according to the state Department of Health Services. That’s an increase of 410 cases from the day before.

According to health officials, 445 people in Wisconsin have died from COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon.

DHS reported 128,657 negative tests for the new coronavirus, an increase of 6,059 from Thursday to Friday.

According to DHS, 1,977 people have been hospitalized because of the virus. That means at least 17 percent of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the state have been hospitalized. DHS officials have said they don’t know the hospitalization history of 2,854 cases, or 24 percent.

There are confirmed cases in 70 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. Burnett and Pepin counties reported their first positive cases of COVID-19 Thursday.

Langlade and Taylor counties have no confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon.

Governor, Local Officials Respond To State Supreme Court’s Decision

The growing number of cases follows the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday that overturned Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order, striking down one of the primary tools Gov. Tony Evers’ administration has used in its effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. On Thursday, Evers said the court’s decision has resulted in chaos for state residents and business leaders.

The justices ruled the Evers’ administration exceeded its authority when DHS Secretary Andrea Palm issued the “Safer at Home” extension scheduled to run until Tuesday, May 26.

The ruling doesn’t mean life will return to normal in Wisconsin. It means it now falls to officials in the state’s 72 counties and in local municipalities to manage their communities’ response to COVID-19.

Something Evers said will create confusion.

“That means you might have to follow a different set of rules then your neighbors across the street,” Evers said Thursday. “And if you own businesses in multiple locations or have employees who live in a different community than the one they work in, things are going to get very confusing, very fast.”

Evers said Thursday his administration had already opened some 14,000 small businesses around the state Monday potentially putting 90,000 people back to work.

“Despite that good work by Wisconsinites across our state who banded together, stayed home and stayed safe, Republican legislators have convinced four of our Supreme Court justices to throw our state into chaos,” Evers said. “We saw it already last night when the Tavern League of Wisconsin urged its members to open back up and people flooded the bars across the state instead of a comprehensive statewide approach to keep people safe.”