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Today we highlight the latest installment of our Outbreak Wisconsin collaboration with WPR. Coburn Dukehart checks in with 85-year-old Beverly Blietz, a former recreational pilot, Uber driver, art gallery docent and community volunteer. She broke free from a Sister Bay nursing home during the coronavirus pandemic but still feels confined as she contemplates her future.
“What if this is to be my last summer on earth?” she asked. “Because if it is, should I be making decisions to redirect the life I have left? I’m safe and virus free, but at what cost?”
Top Stories
‘What if this is to be my last summer on Earth?’ Confined by lockdown, Beverly Blietz decides to move out. — Wisconsin Watch/WPR
Indoor face mask mandate to start Monday in Dane County — Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin’s health agency shelves plans to name businesses tied to coronavirus cases after pushback from industry lobbyists, GOP — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Some masks better than others in preventing COVID-19, UW video shows — Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin elected officials remain divided on Obamacare, even during the pandemic — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The heat is on: How the coronavirus will make it harder for vulnerable residents to keep cool this summer — Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Central Wisconsin lab will be CDC hub for COVID-19 testing — WPR
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Government updates
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention
Housing trouble?
Are you a Milwaukeean who is worried about losing your home or apartment because of the pandemic? Share your experience with News414, Wisconsin Watch’s service journalism collaboration with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier media. Click here for details.
Quotable
“If the numbers do continue to escalate, that could happen where we have to take a step back and close businesses down … I’d really hate to see that when it’s preventable.”
Kathy Ronchi, health officer in Douglas County, where COVID-19 cases nearly doubled from 22 to around 45 over two weeks, speaking to WPR
Data to note
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Tuesday reported 495 new cases of COVID-19, with 3.9% of tests returning positive. The department reported nine new deaths in a pandemic that has reportedly killed 805.
Here’s the latest visualization of new cases from our partners at WisContext.
!function(e,i,n,s){var t=”InfogramEmbeds”,d=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(“script”);o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=”https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”,d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,”infogram-async”); !function(e,i,n,s){var t=”InfogramEmbeds”,d=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(“script”);o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=”https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”,d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,”infogram-async”);And here is DHS’s look at Wisconsin’s hospital capabilities.
https://bi.wisconsin.gov/javascripts/api/viz_v1.jsResilient Wisconsin
People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
When COVID struck, this Racine chef turned a job loss into a new pop-up BBQ — The Journal Times
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
