Governor Tony Evers declared a public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Evers signed the executive order on Thursday. The Department of Health Services (DHS) will serve as the lead agency during the emergency.
The emergency directs DHS “to take all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent and respond to incidents of COVID-19 in the state” and allows DHS to suspend any administrative rules that “prevent, hinders, or delay necessary actions to respond to the emergency.”
The Wisconsin National Guard could be activated as part of the public health emergency.
At press time, Wisconsin had 8 cases of COVID-19. Numbers of positive results are expected to grow as testing increases in the state.