GREEN BAY, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is asking people to follow CDC guidelines by wearing masks indoors, but says he won’t issue another statewide mask mandate after the last one was struck down by the State Supreme Court.
The Court ruled in a 4-3 decision at the end of March that Evers had overstepped his emergency powers by issuing multiple emergency orders for the same pandemic. Evers’ orders included a statewide mandate for mask-wearing, but the Court’s decision made it clear any future mask mandates for COVID-19 would have to come from the legislative rules-making process.
Counties and local municipalities still had the freedom to put their own mandates into place. Dane County’s mask mandate was allowed to expire in early June.
Speaking Tuesday in Green Bay, the governor said he believes enough people will follow the latest CDC guidance and mask up indoors, regardless of whether they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Evers also said wearing a mask to protect others is a small sacrifice to make to put the pandemic behind us.
“I hear people talk about freedom, and freedom to make that choice, but you know, there’s all sorts of times where we collectively as a society decide there’s something more important than individual freedom, and that is the common good of the state or the nation,” Evers said.
“We do that with cars. We have speed limits. We require people to drive on the correct side of the road. There’s many times we do this as community members, and as members of the state of Wisconsin and this country.”
Evers and health officials say the best way to stop the spread of the delta variant in the state is for more people to get the vaccine.
“At the end of the day, this is solvable, folks, by getting shots,” Evers said.
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