Thread by @MollyBeck

White House officials are warning Wisconsin's leaders that more people will die unnecessarily if the state doesn't adopt a "more comprehensive" plan to combat the "unrelenting" rise in cases of coronavirus. jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

One model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation shows between 5,000 and 6,900 lives could be lost to COVID-19 in Wisconsin by Jan. 1 if the virus spread doesn't slow down.

The model predicts the state could see more than 100 deaths per day beginning Dec. 13.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force, which monitors the state's outbreak, in its latest report is again urging state leaders to figure out a response that is more robust and unified than what's in place now.

"The current situation is severe and continues to worsen," the Nov. 1 report says. "Additional government action and community engagement can limit further cases, hospitalizations, and deaths."

Aides to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Senate President Roger Roth, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke did not respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about the report or what kind of plan, if any, the Legislature wants to adopt

.@plremington said the state is in dire need of a robust and consistent public messaging campaign from elected leaders of both parties to reduce the political divisions cloaking the issue of COVID-19, leading to attacks on health officials and behavior that spreads the virus.

@plremington Remington said there is value to a debate over whether Evers and Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm should be able to issue orders but said that discussion should be had when a pandemic is not raging in the state.

@plremington "If they could only save that for another day because personally, I think that debate and discussion is valuable ... but to do so in the middle of the pandemic when we are we are approaching 2,500 deaths?"

@plremington "At this trend, COVID-19 will become the leading cause of death in the state of Wisconsin if we don’t stop debating who is responsible," Remington said.

@plremington A spokeswoman for Evers did not say whether the governor would seek new restrictions even though conservative judges at the circuit, appellate and Supreme Court level have ruled his orders were issued illegally.

@plremington The White House report shows Wisconsin is in the "red zone" for test positivity, with the eighth highest rate in the country.

@plremington It also showed Wisconsin had 543 new cases per 100,000 population, compared to a national average of 165 per 100,000 people. The state's case rate is a 25% increase over the prior week, the report said.

@plremington "We have gone from being one of the lowest risk states at the beginning of the pandemic to one of the highest risk states with no end in sight," Remington said.