Governor Evers announces Badger Bounce-Back program

In a press release this afternoon Governor Evers announced what he is calling the Badger Bounce-Back program. This is being put out by the governor and Secretary-Elect Palm through Emergency Order #31. The program is currently being discussed on today's Media Briefing.

“As we've learned over the past month, in the most difficult of circumstances, Wisconsinites will rise to the occasion, helping each other and working together to do what's best for our families, our neighbors, and our communities,” said Gov. Evers. “That's what the Badger Bounce Back is all about: our resilience as a people and as a state. I am excited and hopeful about this plan. While being safe at home continues to be important, this plan is an all-out attack on the virus and it begins the process of preparing our businesses and our workforce for the important planning that will result in the safe and logical reopening of our economy.” 

The program is partly informed by the President's Guidelines for Opening America Up Again issued by the White House on April 16. According to the Governor Wisconsin does not currently meet the requirements to start relaxing standards for social distancing in the guidelines, and the program being announced to day is an attempt to move Wisconsin into a position to start re-opening in the future. The goal of the plan is to further reduce infection an death in the state, partly through an increase in testing levels which was announced this morning by the Governor.

The state will also be investing in expanding contact tracing for those who have been infected. The goal is to interview everyone who tests positive within 24 hours of their test results and their contacts being interviewed within 48 hours.

The state will also aggressively pursue the purchase of additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and to bolster the healthcare system to treat patients without crisis care and to have a more robust testing program for at-risk healthcare workers.

The basic goal of the program is to lower infection rates in the state and flu-like symptoms over a 14-day period. After meeting those metrics the state will be able to start re-opening businesses and getting workers back to work.