Wisconsin Health Secretary: Avoid Thanksgiving Gatherings

WISCONSIN,WI — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services strongly suggested people avoid Thanksgiving gatherings due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus.

Andrea Palm, DHS Secretary said during a teleconference on Tuesday that people should limit their Thanksgiving dinners to those in their households.

“We’re in a much worse place now than we were in March and April,” Palm said.

The number of coronavirus cases reported Tuesday in Wisconsin was 4,591. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has restarted its daily coronavirus update dashboard after a weekend upgrade.

Gov. Tony Evers also said during the teleconference people should be watching sports at home. He said he understands people want to have fun during the game.

"At the end of the day, watching the game can be just as fun when watching it with the small number of people you are living with who are COVID free," Evers said.

The Badgers will play at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Friday night against Illinois. Evers said UW-Madison is taking game day safety "very seriously" and will close parking lots so people can't tailgate. He anticipates the bars and restaurants will ensure people are social distanced from each other.

A Wisconsin judge on Monday upheld and reissued an order from Gov. Tony Evers' administration limiting the number of people who can gather in bars, restaurants and other indoor places to 25% of capacity. A Wisconsin judge last week temporarily blocked the order from Gov. Tony Evers' administration. On Monday, a judge declined a request from the Tavern League to keep the order on hold while the lawsuit is pending.

During the hearing, the judge also declined to stay his ruling while the Tavern League and others appeal his decision. The Tavern League argued that Evers needed to work through the Legislature to approve an emergency rule setting capacity limits, rather than issuing the order. It pointed to a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling from May undoing Evers' "safer at home" order.

The capacity limits order was issued Oct. 6 by Palm, in the face of surging coronavirus cases in Wisconsin. Evers said he was making the move to curb the spread of the virus as it spikes in the state.

"If we continue to make excuses for not doing this, we will have more deaths and more people with COVID-19 and frankly a lot less economic activity in the state of Wisconsin," Evers said during Tuesday's teleconference.

Locally, a Brookfield restaurant and bar decided not to show the game this weekend.

Tony Lewanovich, Owner/Operating Partner of Champps Brookfield, 95 N Moorland Rd, posted on Facebook about the decision to not play the game.

"So this one is going to hurt a bit, but it needs to be said and hopefully respected. Sports have been the backdrop to everything that we have done here at Champps for over twenty years in Brookfield. We have savored each event and we have clamored for the next. Unfortunately, 2020 is here and all things are off the table as this year has dealt so many curveballs to our industry. This Friday the Wisconsin Badgers kickoff their football season against Illinois at 7pm, and we at Champps will NOT BE SHOWING THE GAME.

It is killing me to type this, but hopefully you will understand that we need your support from Curbside carryout and we need you to sit this one out and watch the Badgers at home. With the Governor's order, we can allow (85) people in our 10,500 square foot building. It just does not work to have the first (85) people get in here and watch the entire game as we have always done and tell everyone else that they cannot come in. During these times, Friday and Saturday are the only evenings in which our demand outpaces our limits and to be frank, we need the tables to turn.

I apologize profusely to those that have been supporting us for all of these sporting years that this situation has arisen, but our goal from the beginning was to provide a "safe and sanitary" experience to all of our guests and under no circumstance will I allow our operation to blatantly disregard the order set forth.

Never in my wildest dreams/nightmares would I have ever expected to be sending this post."

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this story.