The Latest: Nearly 150 virus cases tied to Green Bay plant

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Wisconsin (all times local):

4 p.m.

Nearly 150 employees and family members of workers at the JBS Packerland meatpacking plant in Green Bay have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Brown County Health Department said Wednesday.

In addition to the 147 cases tied to that plant, county health officials said there were another 39 cases tied to American Foods Group and 19 to sausage maker Salm Partners in nearby Denmark.

All of the plants remain open. Meatpacking facilities in other states that have seen spikes in cases have shut down. .

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was helping to investigate the outbreak in Green Bay.

The cluster of cases tied to JBS appears to be the largest of its kind in Wisconsin. More than half of the 402 confirmed coronavirus cases in Brown County are linked to food processing plants. Brown County is the fourth most populated county in the state but it now has the second-highest number of cases, jumping ahead of Dane County but behind Milwaukee County.

___

2:35 p.m.

Nineteen people in Wisconsin have tested positive for the coronavirus after having voted in-person in the April 7 election or after having worked at the polls, the state Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.

Also, five Wisconsin National Guard members who helped staff polls on election day have reported symptoms of COVID-19 but the one who was tested came back as negative, said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp. The other four were not offered tests by their doctor, he said.

The state health department said it does not know if the 19 positive cases contracted COVID-19 at the polls or elsewhere. Several of those people reported possible other exposures, the health department said.

As of Wednesday, 246 people died from the virus in the state while more than 4,800 had tested positive.

Health officials had said ahead of the April 7 election they were concerned about a spike in cornavirus cases due to in-person voting. Those concerns were heightened after voters had to wait in line for hours in close proximity at polling sites in Milwaukee and Green Bay.

___

2 p.m.

Fifteen people in Wisconsin have tested positive for the coronavirus after having voted in-person in the April 7 election or after having worked at the polls, a state health official said Wednesday.

Also, five Wisconsin National Guard members who helped staff polls on election day have reported symptoms of COVID-19 but the one who was tested came back as negative, said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp. The other four were not offered tests by their doctor, he said.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said despite 15 people who were at the polls on election day testing positive, the state can’t say whether they became infected at the polls.

“We have correlation, they voted and were at the polls, but we don’t have causation,” she said.

Milwaukee health officials have previously said they identified seven people who were at the polls who tested positive for COVID-19, but it was also too early to say whether they contracted the virus there. It wasn’t clear whether the 15 cases mentioned on Wednesday included the seven Milwaukee cases.

Health officials had said ahead of the April 7 election they were concerned about a spike in cornavirus cases due to in-person voting. Those concerns were heightened after voters had to wait in line for hours in close proximity at polling sites in Milwaukee and Green Bay.

___

9 a.m.

The Wisconsin Republican Party is pushing back its state convention to July, even as state GOP leaders are trying to overturn a stay-at-home order that runs until May 26.

Republicans had originally scheduled their state convention for May 15 and May 16 at a water park in Wisconsin Dells. The convention has now been delayed until July 10.

Andrew Hitt, chairman of the state party, said Wednesday that delaying the convention was a timing issue.

“Even if the the current restrictions expired sometime in May, we would not have the desired amount of time for a successful convention,” Hitt said in an email.

Republican legislative leaders on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to block an order from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ health secretary to continue the stay-at-home order requiring most nonessential businesses to be closed until May 26. The original order was scheduled to expire on Friday.

Republicans bringing the lawsuit argue that the state health secretary overstepped her authority with the order, which they say will devastate the economy and leave Wisconsin “in shambles.” Evers accused Republicans of putting people’s health at risk.

___

7:10 a.m.

The Milwaukee Common Council has voted to create a program under which all registered voters in the city would receive an application for an absentee ballot in the mail.

The council’s unanimous vote Tuesday is in response to the April 7 election when voters stood in long lines, some for hours, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The number of polling places was drastically cut because of a poll worker shortage.

The Journal Sentine l reports the “SafeVote” program also provides the 300,000 registered voters with a postage-paid return envelope so they can participate in the fall election.

The measure was proposed by a new council member, Marina Dimitrijevic, and passed at her first meeting. She hoped the system will be in place by the August primary, as well.

The measure requires Milwaukee Election Commission to create the program within 30 days of the effective date of the resolution.