Here & Now

Gov. Evers: Focusing on Testing, Contract Tracing

Frederica Freyberg:

This week, Governor Tony Evers’ administration gave up the quest for any new statewide emergency rules to manage COVID-19 in Wisconsin. Evers says Republicans emboldened by a state Supreme Court decision erasing his stay-at-home order would never have allowed any such restrictions. I talked with Governor Evers earlier today, as we head into this holiday weekend. And, governor, thanks very much for joining us.

Tony Evers:

Thanks, Frederica.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why earlier this week in really what seemed like a rather sudden move did you withdraw your coronavirus rule plan?

Tony Evers:

Well, there’s only 24 hours in a day and all of us are focused on important things like getting some of this CARE money out to farmers and small business people and the Republicans made it clear. It wasn’t like a fight. It was a clear that they didn’t want to do anything that would restrict, do anything about restricting anything and they wanted– they didn’t want a statewide plan. They wanted a local plan. So, instead of fighting upstream against something that was just never going to happen, we’re going to be continuing to focus on the things that are important like testing and tracing and getting the right equipment, getting money out to farmers, and making sure that our small businesses get some get some resources. That’s what we need to focus on. And so, it just wasn’t worth the time.

Frederica Freyberg:

Was it a marker that partisan politics have gotten the better of public health?

Tony Evers:

Well, it got– it set a marker in saying that there will be never any restrictions on what might be a dangerous situation. You know, if we, if we did have a second wave or if we did have a surge, it’s likely at some point time we’re going to have to say, “Well, you can only have 50 people in this space rather than 500 people in this space,” but that just wasn’t going to happen. So, we will do the things we can do to make sure that people are safe.

Frederica Freyberg:

Are communications still happening between you and the Republican leadership?

Tony Evers:

Sure, we’ve talked a couple times this week, and, you know, talked about things like how schools can open up and making sure that you’re talking about the University of Wisconsin System. How we can communicate if there is a surge going forward. So, no, we are– it’s just the, first of all, the rule, the idea that there was going to be any grand bargain on this– and the Supreme Court kind of set the stage– just wasn’t an accurate one.

Frederica Freyberg:

Thursday, you allocated $100 million out of the federal CARES Act money toward helping long-term care facilities and emergency medical services, but that came the same day as our next guest in this program blasted you in a letter for what he said was ignoring nursing homes. Is that how this interaction though is going, notwithstanding some of the discussions you say you’re having?

Tony Evers:

Well, apparently, what the discussion we’re having with the leadership didn’t make it down to Representative Steineke. Clearly, we always had planned once the CARE money came in that we’re you know the long-term care facilities were the ones that really didn’t get any money or very little money from the previous federal allocation so this was going to happen and I know he made the claim that we hadn’t reached out to different organizations. We have constant conversations with people in those long-term care facilities. Heck, we’re trying to get in and make sure every one of those are tested so, you know, that communication didn’t happen from his leadership to him for some reason.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, by far, the largest allocation in my understanding was a billion dollars that Wisconsin allocated to testing and contact tracing. Describe why those things are such a major focus?

Tony Evers:

Absolutely, well, that is how, if we have a surge and or if there is a second wave, this is how we’re going to have to contain this and it always has been the most important thing. The more people we test, the more people we can find out if they’re, they are ill and get them give them isolated and get the people that they’ve contacted isolated. As we do that across the state, we start to slowly start to manage this system. So it’s absolutely the most important thing, in addition to getting the equipment we need. And so, we’re doing well. I know we hit, I think, 9,000, almost 10,000 tests just today and we want to keep that up. We want to do 85,000 a week and as we do that, we’re able to you know make it less likely that any surge will happen.

Frederica Freyberg:

President Trump, as you well know, gets tested every day and he talks about that. Do you, likewise, get tested or take extra precautions?

Tony Evers:

I take extra precautions because I’m essentially self-quarantined at the executive residence or the capitol. There’s very few people that interact with me and the people that do have very few interactions either so there’s no use wasting a test on me because we are– my wife and I are essentially self-isolating in our lives right now.

Frederica Freyberg:

Just very briefly, with only about 30 seconds left. What do you think about much of the state being reopened heading into this holiday weekend?

Tony Evers:

Yeah, well, I’ll make it very clear. One thing we have to do is spend time reflecting upon those people that not only died in this epidemic, but obviously, paid the ultimate sacrifice, in our armed services over time. That reflection, I think, should give us an opportunity to think about staying closer to home. I think it is going to be a lot of people coming in from out of state and we– I think, you know, social distancing, doing the things that we need to do, as far as making sure that we’re doing the hygiene. Staying closer to home, I think, is the best recommendation I have, but Memorial Day is about that reflection and so hopefully people will be doing that.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right, Governor Tony Evers, thanks again.

Tony Evers:

Thanks a lot, Frederica. Take care!