Wisconsin Coronavirus Deaths Reach 242, GOP Sues To Open State

MILWAUKEE, WI — The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus reached 4,620 on Tuesday afternoon, an increase of 121 cases from Monday, according to the latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. An additional ten deaths from the illness brought the state's death toll to 242 as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to health officials, 1,252 patients in Wisconsin have required hospitalization. While about 4,600 patients have tested positive for the virus, more than 47,000 tests have come back negative for COVID-19.

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Milwaukee County leads the state with the most number of cases: 2,234 cases and 139 deaths, making up more than half of the state's total death toll. Dane and Waukesha counties have the second and highest number of cases respectively.

Black residents in Wisconsin make up 24 percent of the total cases in the state and 34 percent of deaths. According to the U.S. Census, black Americans make up 6.7 percent of the state's population, indicating racial disparities in the virus' spread.

Republicans Sue To Open Up State

Republican lawmakers in the Wisconsin State Legislature have filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, seeking to block Democratic Gov. Tony Evers stay-at-home order extension, citing a legal overreach by the state's Department of Health Services.

Last week, Evers directed State Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm to extend the state's stay-at-home order from April 24 to May 27. News of the extension roiled lawmakers and resulted in at least one sizable protest in Brookfield over the weekend.

According to official documents, lawmakers filed their lawsuit against Andrea Palm, and fellow state health officials Julie Willems Van Dijk, and Nicole Safar with the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

"The public outcry over the Safer at Home order continues to increase as positive COVID cases decrease or remain flat," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Tuesday afternoon in a joint statement with fellow Republican lawmakers. "There's immense frustration regarding the extension, as it goes beyond the executive branch's statutory powers. Wisconsinites are forced to sit by with no voice in the process. Other Midwestern states with more confirmed cases, like Ohio, have set firm dates to begin a phased reopening far earlier than the Evers administration."

Republican lawmakers are asking the conservatively-leaning State Supreme Court to prevent the extension of the stay-at-home order for six days, "to allow DHS sufficient time to promulgate a new emergency rule consistent with Wisconsin law," according to the suit. Even with liberal justice Jill Karofsky's victory over conservative incumbent Daniel Kelly on April 7, the court would still be 4-3 in favor of conservative justices.

In their lawsuit, which you can read in full here, Republican state legislators claim that an "un-elected, unconfirmed cabinet secretary has laid claim to a suite of czar-like powers—unlimited in scope and indefinite in duration—over the people of Wisconsin."

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