Wisconsin High Court Won’t Consider Reinstating Capacity Order

MADISON, WI — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to consider reinstating Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ coronavirus restrictions limiting the size of public gatherings, deferring to a lower court to decide.

According to online court records, "Supreme Court Order: petition to bypass is denied."

A Wisconsin appeals court in October temporarily blocked Gov. Tony Evers' restrictions on indoor public gatherings pending appeal. This was after a Wisconsin judge 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.

The capacity limits order was issued Oct. 6 by Andrea Palm, secretary of the state Department of Health Services, 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 Wisconsin.

Wisconsin announced 5,935 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and 54 new deaths.

The state also opened a field hospital near Milwaukee on to handle an overflow of patients from hospitals that hit a record-high number of COVID-19 patients. There are six patients as of Wednesday.

Also today, Evers tweeted:

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