'A preparedness measure:' Mayor Tom Barrett asks Gov. Evers to declare public health emergency

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee MayorTom Barrett asked Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday, March 11 to declare an emergency to free up resources to respond to the virus.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett

“This is a preparedness measure,” Barrett said. “We don’t know what’s going to come next, but we want to make sure we’re prepared.”

The governor set a news conference for Thursday at the state's emergency response center.

For most people, COVID-19 causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

Latest numbers

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health Services announced late Wednesday afternoon that tests have confirmed three more cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, bringing the total number of infections so far to six.

One of the new cases involves a patient in Waukesha County who was exposed while traveling in the United States and internationally. That patient has been isolated at home.

The other new cases involve two patients in Fond du Lac County. Both were exposed while traveling, one domestically and one abroad. One of them has been hospitalized, the first COVID-19 hospitalization in Wisconsin since the outbreak began in China. The other patient is isolated at home.