MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – There are now 416 confirmed cases of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Wisconsin. That number released by the Department of Health Services this afternoon.
Five deaths in Wisconsin have been related to COVID-19. 7,050 people in the state have tested negative. There are three confirmed in Brown County as of this afternoon.
Governor Tony Evers has also called for a “Safer At Home” order for Wisconsinites to begin on Tuesday.
There is a bit of a difference between Shelter In Place and Safer At Home orders.
“It’s pretty simple, we want people to stay at home,” Governor Evers tells WTAQ News, “Shelter in place means I could be walking down the street and I’m taking shelter right here. Stay at home means stay at home…We can do this, it’s pretty simple – stay at home, it’s a serious disease and we’re trying to control it.”
That order will close all non-essential businesses starting once it is signed on Tuesday. As of this afternoon, it’s unclear exactly what those businesses will be – but we have a pretty solid idea.
“We expect the bar and restaurant provisions to be similar to that of the current order,” says the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel, Ryan Nilsestuen, “Maintaining our supply line, maintaining food and other items on grocery store shelves and so all of that will remain open – all of that will still be supplying our grocery stores so that we’ll be able to get the goods and services we need.”
That means most restaurants offering drive-thru, curbside pickup, and similar services will likely be able to continue providing food.
As the Safer At Home order is set to be signed and go into effect on Tuesday, the swirling question for many is whether they will work from home or drive in to the office. Not everyone will be required to work from home – as essential services span a wide variety of key businesses and industries.
The federal government has listed what they deem essential online. But state officials would not go into specifics during their press call Monday afternoon.
“[The federal government] have defined essential and non-essential from their vantage point. This is the Wisconsin vantage point, it will not be identical,” Evers says.
