Two weeks after Wisconsin’s April 7 election amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s unclear if in-person voting led to significant spread of the coronavirus, with recent surges in Dane and Brown counties attributed to other factors and just seven cases in Milwaukee officially linked to voting.
Dane County reported 17 new cases Monday, the largest increase in nearly three weeks. Most of those cases were inmates at the county jail, and no connection to the election has been found, officials said.
In Brown County, health officials said a surge of more than 100 new cases over last weekend includes a cluster of cases at a JBS Packerland meatpacking plant in Green Bay.
In Milwaukee, which has seen about 50 new cases a day the past week, officials identified seven people who appear to have contracted the coronavirus through activities related to the April 7 election.
People are also reading…
“We have not yet seen indications of an impact from the election,” state Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm said Monday. “We will continue to monitor that.”
Because of a lag between when people become infected, get sick, see a doctor, get tested and results come back, it can take a lengthy time for such a link to unfold, Palm said.
Most of Dane County’s 17 new cases Monday were at the jail, where officials on Tuesday said four inmates from the same pod in the Public Safety Building jail tested positive over the weekend. That prompted the testing of 22 more inmates, of whom 12 tested positive.
“We have not seen evidence in Dane County of confirmed cases linked to in-person voting,” said Sarah Mattes, spokeswoman for Public Health Madison and Dane County.
That’s likely because of a high number of polling places and high absentee ballot usage in the county, the department said.
Health officials in Brown and Waukesha counties told the State Journal there is no established correlation between an increase of cases and the election. Waukesha County Public Health spokeswoman Linda Wickstrom said the county reviewed confirmed cases who identified as in-person voters and can’t confirm that voting was the exposure that caused their diagnosis.
Shawn Benjamin, a spokesman for the Milwaukee health department, said in an email to The Associated Press that his agency confirmed the seven infections connected to the election there. Commissioner of Health Jeanette Kowalik said six of the cases involve Milwaukee voters and one is a Milwaukee poll worker, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Officials hope to have additional information on the cases by the end of the week, including whether any of them were concentrated in any of the city’s five polling places or if any resulted in death, Kowalik said Monday.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ spokeswoman didn’t respond to an email Tuesday morning seeking comment on the Milwaukee infections.
Election effect?
Public health agencies discover potential links among cases of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, tuberculosis or foodborne illnesses such as salmonella or norovirus, by interviewing people who become ill or test positive, and asking where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with. Through contact tracing, they talk to the contacts and see if they develop symptoms.
If a location or event, such as a restaurant, a party or mass gathering such as the election emerges as a commonality, disease investigators study the possibility, assess other factors and determine if there’s a link.
“Hollywood often depicts this contact investigation process as complicated — think of bulletin boards with hundreds of strings coming off a central patient,” Public Health Madison and Dane County said in a blog post at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wisconsin. “While following up with contacts is time intensive, it’s rather straightforward for us. Remember we do this every day for certain communicable diseases!”
Palm said health departments statewide are looking at the election as a possible link among new cases as they would any other potential factor. The state has trained about 150 state employees who typically do other work to become contact tracers and plans to hire another 1,000 contact tracers statewide as part of Evers’ Badger Bounce Back plan to reopen the economy.
Health officials say symptoms of COVID-19 typically appear within two weeks of exposure to the virus, and Tuesday is the 14th day since the election. That means more voters and poll workers could come forward with infections in the coming days.
The coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. As of Tuesday, 242 people have died in Wisconsin and nearly 4,620 have tested positive.
The vote goes on
Wisconsin officials refused to postpone the spring election to protect voters and poll workers from the virus. Evers and Republicans initially agreed that in-person voting should go on as scheduled. Both Evers and the GOP said the ballot included hundreds of local officials whose terms end in April and a delay could leave crucial local offices vacant during the pandemic.
Democrats and their allies ramped up pressure on Evers to postpone the proceedings as Election Day drew near. Evers issued an executive order the day before the election pushing in-person voting back to June, but the conservative-leaning state Supreme Court struck it down within hours. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling allowing ballots to be mailed in after Election Day, which likely caused more people to vote in person.
Voters who went to the polls in Milwaukee stood in long lines, many for several hours. Many had no protective gear. And thousands of Wisconsin voters stayed home, unwilling to risk their health and unable to be counted because requested absentee ballots never arrived.
Aides for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald — both Republicans — didn’t respond to emails Tuesday seeking comment on the seven election-related infections.
Wisconsin’s election has been a flashpoint of contention as Democrats and Republicans grapple with how to conduct elections in the coronavirus era as the November presidential race approaches.
Democrats and voting rights groups have filed lawsuits to expand mail and absentee voting options, and pushed for an extra $2 billion to help states adjust their election systems. National Republicans are fighting those efforts, while President Donald Trump claims without evidence that mail-in voting is vulnerable to fraud.
State Journal reporter Riley Vetterkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photos: Wisconsinites vote in spring primary despite COVID-19 danger
Photos: Wisconsinites vote in spring primary despite COVID-19 danger
Election Day with COVID-19

Town of Dunn resident Robert Wilson reviews his selections on his ballot while voting at the town's highway garage Tuesday. Voters and poll workers were encouraged to wear masks and take other precautions after efforts to delay the vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic failed.
Election Day with COVID-19

Sisters Kelly and Teal Rowe work behind a plexiglass barrier while waiting to verify voters in Wisconsin's spring election in the town of Dunn Tuesday.
Election Day with COVID-19

Election workers in the town of Dunn, Wis. tally absentee ballots in the town's highway garage facility Tuesday, April 7, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Election workers outside the Madison Municipal Building wear protective medical equipment while assisting voters with curbside voting during the state's spring election Tuesday.
Election Day with COVID-19

Election workers and voters outside the Madison Municipal Building keep a distance from each other Tuesday.
Election Day with COVID-19

A sign along East Washington Avenue in Madison encourages motorists to vote in the state's spring election Tuesday.
Election Day with COVID-19

An opponent of a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to proceed with the state's spring election amid coronavirus concerns makes her feelings known to passing motorists on Tuesday in Madison.
Election Day with COVID-19

An opponent of a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to proceed with the state's spring election amid coronavirus concerns displays a sign in her car in Madison, Wis. Tuesday, April 7, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Judy Karofsky, mother of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Jill Karofsky, checks her phone during a walk with her dog, Bacon, along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Madison, Wis. Tuesday, April 7, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Paula Mohan hands out a ballot while behind plexiglass, to a voter at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center Tuesday April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Benjamin Olneck-Brown, left, and Laura Muller organizing absentee ballots at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center Tuesday April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Shanon Hankin, cleans a voting booth after it was used for voting Tuesday at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center in Madison.
Election Day with COVID-19

Anita Krasno checks in a voter while behind plexiglass at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center Tuesday April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Election Day with COVID-19

Michelle Martin, left, and Anita Krasno, middle, check in a voter behind a plexiglass barrier at the Will-Mar Neighborhood Center on Tuesday. Madison erected the barriers for poll workers at all 66 of the city's polling locations.
Election Day with COVID-19

Benjamin Olneck-Brown, left, and Laura Muller organizing absentee ballots at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center Tuesday April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Election 2020 Wisconsin

People line up to vote at Riverside High School during the primary in Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Voters lined up to cast ballots across Wisconsin on Tuesday, ignoring a stay-at-home order in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic to participate in the state's presidential primary election. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)
Virus Outbreak Wisconsin Election

Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Virus Outbreak Wisconsin Election

A worker hands out disinfectant wipes and pens as voters line up outside Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Virus Outbreak Wisconsin Election

Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Virus Outbreak Wisconsin Election

Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
APTOPIX Election 2020 Wisconsin

Bridget McDonald, right, receives a ballot from poll worker Patty Piek-Groth on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at the Janesville Mall in Janesville, Wis. Hundreds of voters in Wisconsin are waiting in line to cast ballots at polling places for the state's presidential primary election, ignoring a stay-at-home order over the coronavirus threat. (Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP)
Wisconsin Election 2020

In this photo provided by Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, Vos is shown wearing a mask, gloves and a protective gown while working at the polls in Burlington, Wis., on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Vos sued Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who tried to stop the election due to fears of coronavirus, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court said Evers didn't have the authority to stop the election. Vos said the election could be run safely despite public health warnings about the risk of spreading the virus. (Photo courtesy of Robin Vos via AP)
APTOPIX Election 2020 Wisconsin

Robert Forrestal, left, wears a full face chemical shield to protect against the spread of coronavirus, as he votes Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at the Janesville Mall in Janesville, Wis. Hundreds of voters in Wisconsin are waiting in line to cast ballots at polling places for the state's presidential primary election, ignoring a stay-at-home order over the coronavirus threat. (Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP)
Virus Outbreak Wisconsin Election

Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Masked poll worker

Scott Hanna staffs a curbside voting location outside Madison's East High School Tuesday wearing a mask and face shield to protect himself and voters from COVID-19.
Election 2020 Wisconsin

Poll worker Patty Piek-Groth, left, helps fellow poll worker Jerry Moore, center, put on a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as the polls open for the presidential primary election at the Janesville Mall in Janesville, Wis., on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Hundreds of voters in Wisconsin are waiting in line to cast ballots at polling places for the state's presidential primary election, ignoring a stay-at-home order over the coronavirus threat. (Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP)
Middleton votes

About 30 people, many of them wearing masks, were in line when the polls opened in Middleton at Kromrey Middle School. However, after the initial rush, the waits were few as more than 8,000 people had voted absentee prior to Tuesday
Health departments statewide are looking at Wisconsin's April 7 election as a possible link to new cases of the coronavirus.