Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Dane County has the fifth highest total of confirmed cases of coronavirus out of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, according to the state Department of Health Services.
Dane County is preparing to go it alone on measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 if Wisconsin's “Safer at Home” order is lifted or local public health officials determine the state has relaxed social distancing restrictions too quickly.
Sarah Mattes, spokesperson for Public Health Madison & Dane County, says the joint city-county agency is working on its own plan for how to safely reopen the economy.
“We are exploring what our options are in issuing local [public health] orders,” says Mattes. “We do not want to open everything back up to quote-unquote, ‘normal operations’ too quickly. Because if we do that and then we see large spikes [in coronavirus] cases, that makes us very nervous.”
Dane County may have to act quickly due to a pending ruling of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments last week on an emergency petition filed by the Republican-controlled Legislature challenging Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home order, issued by his health Secretary-designee Andrea Palm.
The lawsuit charges that Palm issued an unlawful order by not going through the rulemaking process that gives lawmakers oversight over how state agencies implement the law. Lawyers for the Evers administration argue that state statutes give the health secretary authority to issue public health emergency orders to combat communicable disease — like COVID-19 — without legislative approval.
Josh Wescott, chief of staff for Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, says his office is “monitoring state Supreme Court action.”
“Depending on that outcome, we are exploring potential avenues to ensure we have an ability to let public health science guide how we transition here in Dane County,” writes Wescott when asked by Isthmus whether the county intends to issue its own Safer at Home order. “If we feel the state's action does not allow for our urban area to do that, we want to be sure we do all we can to minimize rapid new rates of infection like we are seeing in other parts of Wisconsin."
During oral arguments held virtually on May 5, several members of the conservative majority on the state Supreme Court were skeptical about Palm’s authority to issue sweeping public health orders. The court could overturn the Safer At Home order and leave Wisconsin without mandatory guidelines to fight the pandemic — at least while GOP lawmakers and the governor hash out a new plan.
Mattes says the county is preparing for a variety of scenarios.
“If the Supreme Court says the Safer at Home order is not valid and sends it back to the Legislature for rulemaking, we'd obviously see what the Legislature is going to do,” says Mattes. “But we would not feel comfortable, given our current data, if the Legislature decides to do nothing.”
Safer at Home, which was extended in April and expires on May 26, restricts travel in the state, prohibits mass gatherings, and orders “nonessential” businesses to be closed. More than 10,000 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus and at least 418 people have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Through another emergency order, known as the Badger Bounce Back plan, the Evers administration has laid out criteria for reopening Wisconsin in three phases based on how well the state is doing to combat the virus. This criteria for each phase includes: a 14-day downward trajectory on reported cases of influenza-like and COVID-19 symptoms; a 14-day downward trajectory of reported positive tests for the coronavirus; and a downward trend of healthcare workers contracting the virus. Ninety-five percent of Wisconsin’s hospitals also need to be able to treat COVID-19 cases without “crisis standards of care” and have the capacity to test all clinical staff.
As of May 12, Wisconsin meets five out of the six criteria needed to move into phase one, which allows for gatherings of 10 people to resume.
GOP lawmakers have been critical of Evers' handling of the pandemic crisis and have accused the governor of unnecessarily crippling the economy. Unemployment has soared in Wisconsin, and the nation, under state lockdown orders. A Marquette Law Poll, released May 12, shows that views on Evers’ handling of the pandemic are becoming more partisan. Forty-three percent of Republicans surveyed think the public health orders to fight the coronavirus are an “overreaction,” compared to just 13 percent polled in late March. Ninety percent of Democrats support the unprecedented response to the public health crisis, a five percent drop since the March poll.
Echoing many Wisconsin Republicans, State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) is critical of the governor’s “one-size-fits-all approach to the pandemic.”
“Evers is crushing huge areas of the state where coronavirus isn’t overwhelming anything, including hospitals,” writes Wanggaard in a statement. “It’s past time to open those regions up. If the governor doesn’t believe people are traveling to those areas already, he needs to get out of Madison.”
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has “dialed back” some restrictions with two new emergency orders issued this week, including allowing retail stores to be open with up to five customers at a time. Still, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) lashed out at the governor.
“It’s another day and another confusing emergency order. We’ve flattened the curve by being careful and using common sense. With more testing, we’re seeing a smaller percentage of positive cases,” Vos wrote in a May 11 statement. “This shutdown has put half a million people out of work. It’s time to get everyone back to work in every part of the state.”
In a May 7 interview with the Green Bay television station WBAY, Evers said that he did not foresee extending Safer at Home beyond May 26.
"I think by the 26th we will be in a place where we don't have to do that, unless something extraordinary happens,” Evers said. “You know, the virus doesn't consult with me on that, but we are doing a great job with testing and tracing those results in a way that I feel confident we are headed in the right direction."
But Dane County public health officials worry the state might be moving too quickly. Mattes says there is a possibility that Safer at Home might expire before the county is ready to safely reopen. State law gives local public health agencies broad authority — independent of the state — to “promptly take all measures necessary to prevent, suppress and control communicable diseases.”
Public Health Madison & Dane County already tapped into this authority in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. More than a week before Evers’ Safer at Home order, on March 24, Dane County banned mass gatherings of more than 250 people. The next day, the county issued another order prohibiting gatherings of more than 50.
“We issued local public health orders before and, if the data calls for it, we can do it again,” says Mattes. “We’re looking at options so that we are protecting the health and safety of as many people as possible.”
