Badger Bounce Back

"FROM SAFER AT HOME TO THE BADGER BOUNCE BACK

 When COVID-19 hit Wisconsin, it started to spread very rapidly. This is what happens when a very infectious, brand-new virus enters a community. No one is safe because no one is immune. That means a lot of people can get sick very quickly. It also means hospitals can be overrun with very sick patients. We saw this happen in Wuhan, in Italy and in New York City. Our Safer at Home order was enacted to protect Wisconsin from this situation. We all stayed home, so the virus couldn’t spread easily, and our hospitals have been able to safely care for sick people. According to the model created by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Wisconsin was projected to have between 440 and 1,500 deaths from the 22,000 COVID-19 infections projected by April 8th. Over the first three weeks of Safer at Home, our data shows we have saved at least 300 lives, and perhaps as many as 1,400 lives. We have helped flatten the curve, which has resulted in fewer cases and hospitalizations, and we’ve saved lives, together.

Safer at Home has saved lives, protected healthcare workers and critical employees, and prevented our hospitals from being overrun, but we know that it is not a workable solution for our economy or our way of life in the long-term. We are fighting an unprecedented global pandemic and we are working to open Wisconsin as soon as we can and in the safest way possible. The challenge is that all of us who have remained safe at home can still become ill if we move too quickly or act without an achievable plan in place. In order to preserve the progress we made during Safer at Home, we’ve developed a plan to safely reopen Wisconsin. Our plan is the Badger Bounce Back.

Here’s what it looks like:
 • We turn the dial to open businesses and society in phases.
 • Decisions to move from phase to phase are guided by data—Wisconsin’s Gating Criteria and Core Responsibilities.
 • In order to turn the dial on Safer at Home and supercharge the Badger Bounce Back, we need to:
 ◦ Increase lab capacity and testing
 ◦ Increase contact tracing, including support for isolation and quarantine
 ◦ Track the spread of COVID-19
◦ Increase health care capacity
 ◦ Procure more personal protective equipment
 • Individuals and businesses agree to practice good hygiene, physical distancing and other best practices..."
Wisconsin and COVID-19