(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s National Guard commanders say some of the troops who worked the polls on Election Day are showing symptoms of coronavirus.
Major General Paul Knapp on Wednesday said that five troops are showing symptoms. No one has been confirmed sick. One soldier has been tested, but the results were negative.
“We have had positive coronavirus cases across the National Guard,” Knapp told reporters Wednesday. “Because of the sensitive medical nature, I’m not at liberty to talk about the specifics.”
Knapp said of the more than 2,400 National Guardsmen who worked on Election Day throughout the state, five are showing symptoms.
There is a lot of attention being paid to coronavirus cases after Election Day.
Wisconsin’s health secretary said before the election that in-person voting would lead to more cases, which would lead to more deaths. There is no evidence of a surge in coronavirus cases because of the election.
Milwaukee’s health commissioner on Monday said there may be seven coronavirus cases tied to in-person voting, but they are not sure.
Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said even if some voters are now reporting symptoms, there is no way to prove when or where they may have picked-up the virus.
“We have correlation but we do not have causation,” she said.
DHS on Wednesday reported the largest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, 225 newly confirmed cases. Many of them, 88, are linked to a meat processing plant in Brown County. DHS noted that Brown County has gone from 41 cases two weeks ago to 410 cases as of Wednesday.
In all, DHS said Wednesday that 4,845 people are infected with the coronavirus, 1,302 people are or have been hospitalized because of it, and 246 people have died. Another 49,502 have been tested for the virus and found not sick.
Benjamin Yount reports on Illinois and Wisconsin statewide issues for The Center Square.
