UPDATE: 9:58 a.m.
Mayor Tom Barrett shared how Milwaukee is going to need to increase the level of medical materials and coronavirus tests available to the community if we want to be prepared for what he calls an inevitability of COVID-19 cases in Milwaukee.
To the Mayor, it will require federal funding and assistance.
“If there is a torrent of people getting sick and our first responders are responding, we will need additional materials. That is what the federal stockpile is,” said the Mayor on WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi Show.
“One of the keys to this is aggressive testing as well…we have to turn up the heat very, very quickly,” he added.
“Our capacity is 25 to 30 a day. If this hits (which he said would happen ‘within days, if not hours,’ we’re going to need a significant improvement in that. That’s wokring with the federal government. We (may) need 300 to 500 tests per day.”
The Mayor also has encouraged “social distancing,” making sure people are not in contact with each other unnecessarily.
“I think social distancing is going to be more important. That’s something even I have to become more adapted to,” said the Mayor.
“Let’s recognize this is something that hasn’t been seen before.”
He explained that he and his staff are considering possible moves involving events with large crowds.
“Some places have used 1,000. Some places have used 250…what is right under a public health scenario?” he asked.
Perhaps the most all-encompassing words from the Mayor came when he gave both warning and encouragement for this city.
“We’re going to get through this. But it’s not going to be overnight. It’s not going to be in 3-4 days.”
Original story
Wisconsin now has six confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
As the coronavirus continues to spread, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is asking Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to declare a public health emergency.
Barrett tells WTMJ that should happen later this morning.
“We know that it has not gotten here. But I believe that it is a matter of hours, not of days, before we have a case,” Barrett tells Wisconsin’s Morning News. “The fact that it’s in Waukesha now, the fact that it’s in Fond du Lac, the number of cases in Illinois. I would like to pretend that it’s not going to hit here, but I think that would be foolhardy. I want us to do everything we can to be prepared and get ahead of this thing and be proactive.”
The Mayor acknowledges that the city will see an economic impact, but when making decisions, he has to think about what’s best for everyone’s health.
“No one is going to say ‘we’re going to come out of this unscathed economically.’ Unfortunately, I think that’s something we all need to be cognizant of right now.”
As for workers at those local businesses, the Mayor is keeping them in mind.
“Another question that’s going to arise- certainly on the local level but more so at the state and federal level- is what do we do for workers, particularly lower-income workers. The part-time workers at events, the servers, things like that. They’re the ones that have the least protection and economically, they’re the ones that are most vulnerable right now.”
As for events like the DNC, the Mayor emphasizes to WTMJ that there are no current plans to cancel or change anything.
“I think we have to focus on days and weeks, not what’s going to happen four months from now.”
For the full interview with Mayor Barrett on Wisconsin’s Morning News, click in the player above.