Evers extends Wisconsin mask mandate until Nov. 21

Faced with soaring coronavirus cases across Wisconsin, particularly on college campuses, Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday extended a statewide mask mandate until Nov. 21.

The order, which has been in effect since August, was scheduled to expire on Monday. Evers extended the order even as his authority to issue the mandate is being challenged by conservatives in court.

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Wisconsin’s COVID-19 cases have been soaring and the state now ranks third in the country for new cases per capita. A month ago, Wisconsin ranked 26th. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has gone up by 912, an increase of nearly 104%. There were 357 new cases per 100,000 people in Wisconsin over the past two weeks.

Evers also noted 18 to 24-year-olds have a case rate five times higher than any other age group in the state, and last week, eight Wisconsin cities were listed among the top 20 cities in the U.S. where COVID-19 cases were rising fastest, and six of those eight cities have University of Wisconsin System campuses.

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus was very quiet Tuesday morning with new COVID-19 restrictions in place with distance learning only and sheltering in place for students in the dorms for the next two weeks.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty now with what’s going on,” said Suzy Smith from Minnetonka who was outside studying for an exam with a few other students.

“The numbers are still climbing at the end of the day, it still feels like we’re trying to come back to school but it doesn’t feel like we’re ready, it’s really frustrating,” said UW-RF student Evan Ruesch.

UW-River Falls data shows 128 active COVID-19 cases, with 107 students currently place in UW-RF sponsored quarantine and isolation space.

"On Thursday we realized our capacity was on the edge,” said Connie Foster, Interim Chancellor. “Friday we called an emergency meeting of the cabinet, ‘I think we’re going to have to do a shelter in place’—the numbers are spiking.”

Foster said the administration will review COVID-19 cases in the next couple weeks to determine if in-person class will resume.

“I’m curious to see how we can flatten the curve in the next two weeks, I think we will,” Foster said. “I’m confident we’ll flatten it, we’ve doubled our capacity, we’ve got a lot more testing going on, quarantine and isolation spaces, we have a lot more people working on it.”
Gov. Evers extended the masking mandate for the state due in part to concerns about the increase in COVID-19 cases on college campuses.

Evers said infections of 18-24-year-olds are 5 times higher than any other age group.

“I’ve seen most people on this campus wearing masks, but I’ve seen videos of other campuses where they aren’t following the rules as much, here at least I’ve seen we’re doing a pretty good job but I understand why he’d (Evers) want to do it just to keep people safe,” said Lilly Zollner, UW-RF Sophomore from Owatonna.

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In total, nearly 102,500 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Wisconsin and there have been 1,244 deaths, according to the state Department of Health Services.

Despite the surge of cases on University of Wisconsin campuses, Evers has stood by university leaders’ decision to open dorms and allow in-person instruction. But as the virus spread quickly among students, campuses across the state have had to quarantine dorms, fraternity and sorority houses and temporarily shift to online-only classes.

You can view Wisconsin’s COVID-19 data here.