Coronavirus has canceled or postponed hundreds of events across the country.
Here in Milwaukee, the latest event to feel the effect is Summerfest.
The World’s Largest Music Festival will now take place over three weekends in September.
“I think they obviously saw that there were going to have to be adjustments to it,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett tells WTMJ. “I think it was the prudent decision. The weather is still great, it’s still late summer. So we’ll have Summerfest in late summer.”
Another event set to take place that’s raising questions state-wide is the April 7 election.
“I don’t see right now how we can conceivably have an in-person election on April 7,” adds Barrett. “Does that mean we have to postpone it? I don’t think it does. I think what we need to do is to modify it. I don’t think either in-person balloting or the absentee balloting that occurs ahead of time is going to work. We’re telling people to stay home, how can we then tell 160,000 people to go outside.”
Barrett says his suggestion is to vote-by-mail.
Another big event slated to take place this summer in Milwaukee is the Democratic National Convention. The Mayor says talks are ongoing about what that will look like.
“Two things are certain. One is that the Democrats are going to nominate a candidate, and that means that they are going to have to have a Convention to do that. Now what form that takes I think is still undetermined because of the nature of what’s going on right now.”
For the full interview with Mayor Barrett on Wisconsin’s Morning News, click in the player above.