COVID-19 Update: Wisconsin Reports 5,146 New Cases, 52 Deaths
MADISON, Wis. (CBS/AP) -- Wisconsin reported 5,146 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 52 deaths.
The Saturday case count is short of a record. But as of Friday, the seven-day positivity rate in Wisconsin was 18.6 percent when measured by total tests by day, but 36.5 percent when measured by tests per person.
A total of 18,954 tests were reported back within the past 24 hours.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said during a news conference Thursday that he expects to introduce a package of pandemic relief legislation next week. He declined to reveal any details of the proposals, but did not sound optimistic that Republicans who control the Legislature would sign on.
"They're not in favor of mandating anything," Evers said. "That makes it more difficult."
Republican lawmakers have not met to address the pandemic since they passed a relief package in April. Since then, they and their conservative allies have worked to block every Evers initiative to curb the spread of the virus. They persuaded the state Supreme Court to strike down his stay-at-home order in May and convinced a state appeals court last month to block his restrictions on indoor gatherings. They're also challenging Evers' mask mandate before the state Supreme Court.
As a result, Evers has been reduced to begging people to stay home and avoid gatherings. He has hammered home that message during twice-weekly news conferences for months but not enough people are listening.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said last month that the state's approach to the pandemic isn't working and has called for more testing. He said Tuesday that he left a message with Evers asking him to start negotiating on legislation.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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