'These are people and lives': Milwaukee County leaders support 'stay-at-home' extension as coronavirus cases and deaths rise

Milwaukee officials signaled strong support for the extension of the governor's stay-at-home order Thursday, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to more than 2,000 in the county and the death toll surpassed 100. 

"We can never let these numbers become an abstraction," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said. "These are people and lives." 

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy and Brown Deer Village President Wanda Montgomery joined Abele in an online news briefing urging residents to continue staying home to stop the spread of the respiratory virus.

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"It's important that we support each other through this. Wash your hands. Make sure that you don't go out when it's not necessary," said Montgomery, who noted Brown Deer has several hot spots.

"We still have people that are going out," she said, citing examples of parents and children going to school property to play basketball, and adding: "We've got to do better."

The state order means school is out for the rest of the academic year, while many businesses will stay closed until May 26, the day after Memorial Day. 

"We know that this is causing economic hardship," Barrett said. "All you have to do is look at the unemployment claims and see the difficulties that small businesses are having and I am very sympathetic to that." 

Under the new state rules, golf courses may open and even businesses not considered essential will be allowed to conduct minimum operations such as deliveries and mailings.

"We're not going to open the golf courses until it is 100% safe to do so," Abele said.

"I would love to have the revenue," he said of opening the county links. "I'd love to have the revenue that we get from the beer gardens, but the issue here is about safety and that is always the top priority and it absolutely has come at a cost."

More:The Milwaukee area's first beer garden is open, but don't expect to linger with a brew.

The county already made changes in response to the economic fallout, including freezing new hiring, deferring all raises and bonuses, and planning to furlough about 200 seasonal employees, Abele said.

Signs of 'flattening the curve' in Milwaukee County

Although the county case statistics remain troubling, there is reason for cautious optimism.

The rate at which cases are doubling is now about every eight days, much slower than the one- or two-day doubling seen when virus first took hold in the county, said Greenfield Health Officer Darren Raush.

"That is a sign that we are approaching flattening the curve, we are approaching that apex," Raush said.

Officials agreed expanded testing is a key factor needed to ensure public health and allowing businesses to safely reopen.

"What I want to see is more community testing that will allow us to go to some of these neighborhoods that are truly hot spots and do more testing in these areas, many of which are not served by hospitals, physicians or offices," Barrett said.

He referenced the efforts of Madison-based Exact Sciences, which is involved in a state partnership to create test kits for COVID-19 modeled on its existing at-home tests for markers of colon cancer.

"I want us to work with the state of Wisconsin, with Exact Sciences, and see what we can do, not in weeks, but literally in days, to bring those test kits here, so that they can be implemented in our community," Barrett said.

COVID-19 updates from across Wisconsin

Coronavirus has touched every part of life, from the legal system to schools — and sometimes both at the same time.

A high school student in Marquette County has sued her local sheriff after he threatened to take her or her family to jail for her post on Instagram warning that she believed she had contracted coronavirus.

The sophomore became ill after a spring break trip to Florida with her marching band and tested negative for the virus. According to the lawsuit, doctors said she likely was positive but tested too late.

An attorney for the sheriff said the teen "caused distress and panic" at time when the county had no confirmed COVID-19 cases, calling the incident "nothing more than a 2020 version of screaming fire in a crowded theater" in reference to speech that is not protected by the First Amendment. 

Statewide, the Department of Health Services has reported 3,875 confirmed cases, including three in Marquette County, and 197 deaths. More than 1,100 people have been hospitalized since the state began testing.

The pandemic has led to organizations adapting and finding more ways to give back.

Although schools will remain closed for the rest of the year, the WIAA continued to discuss options for high school sports in the spring and summer.

The Wisconsin Bike Fed started a petition calling for low-traffic streets to be closed to cars and trucks to allow more room for pedestrians and cyclists who need to maintain social distance.

And Plymouth-based Sargento Foods announced it is donating $2 million in cheese — which translates to 15.8 million cheese sticks — to the Hunger Task Force in Milwaukee and the national food bank Feeding America. 

"We want to do our part to address the growing issue of hunger and food insecurity during these challenging times,” Louie Gentine, the family-owned company’s chief executive officer, said.

Bruce Vielmetti, Patrick Marley, Chelsey Lewis, Rick Barrett, Sophie Carson and JR Radcliffe of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Contact Ashley Luthern at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.