1/ Allow me to interrupt your #doomscrolling with some #Wisconsin #COVID news from today's @DHSWI update.

tl;dr: Every @wisgop legislator who has said that COVID is not a real and present threat the health and life of tens of thousands of us is a liar and/or an ignorant fraud.

2/ While today's 1672 new cases do not break a record, it is a top-ten day. All ten of those days have been since colleges, universities, and schools reopened in late August and early September.

3/ Much has been made of the stories of WI cities and towns with universities leading the way. That is barely half the story. Most of the story is that much of Red Wisconsin, represented by the @wisgop, is not wearing their masks.

4/ That is anecdotal, of course. But the data support that: In less-densely populated rural Wisconsin, and in keep-your-polite-distance suburban Wisconsin, cases are outpacing cities and college towns--and accelerating.

5/ So @GovEvers's extended mask mandate is being challenged. Sure. Thing is, it's already not being followed by the people who are nw challenging it, and this is the result. This chart should scare the hell out of everyone, especially lawmakers whose job it is to protect us.

6/ "Oh, this disease isn't serious, blah blah blah." OH LOOK, record high hospitalization in the state. And while ICU usage is not at its high--for many reasons including we've learned a lot since April about treatment--it's still double its midsummer low.

7/ And no, DHS didn't announce a bazillion new deaths today. But deaths lag. We're on pace to pass 40k new cases this month. Hospitalization rates are around 6%, and more than 15% of those hospitalized have died. That math is ugly--400 deaths from cases announced this month.

8/ All because the Wisconsin right, from its electeds to the law firms filing cases, made it their mission to reject science and mock common sense because they lost in November 2018. Every action, from the lame-duck laws to today's posturing, has been motivated by that one fact.

9/ "We have to open." "Kids have to be in school." "The Badgers have to play football." "Adolf Evers can't make us wear masks."

It's a tantrum. But it's killing Wisconsinites and, in a ghoulish karmic twist, heavily hitting red parts of the state.

10/ Today, two more counties officially passed 2% infections rates: Outagamie and Kewaunee. That brings the total to 9, only 2 of which (Milwaukee and La Crosse) voted for Clinton and Evers.

11/ More than 40 counties have infection rates over 1%. DHS says over 14,000 cases are active right now around the state, many concentrated in small conservative counties like Forest, Trempealeau, Oconto, Waupaca. This hasn't been a Milwaukee vs the state situation for months.

12/ The median county infection rate is now 67% of the mean infection rate, the highest it's ever been. It means COVID is spreading faster now among counties that have had lower infection rates to date--again, almost all red counties represented by those opposed to masking.

13/ But the @wisgop doesn't have 100% control over the state anymore and that means opposing even the simplest measures designed to literally save lives.

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

14/ The top-ten most infected counties in Wisconsin:
County (cases per 100,000 residents)
Brown (2959)
Milwaukee (2881)
Forest (2440)
Walworth (2421)
Iron (2344)
Racine (2336)
La Crosse (2280)
Outagamie (2012)
Kewaunee (2005)
Kenosha (1966)

15/ 11-20th most infected counties in WI:
County (cases/100k residents)
Trempealeau (1940)
Marinette (1876)
Dodge (1853)
Oconto (1852)
Waupaca (1806)
**MEAN: 1801.9**
Calumet (1789)
Portage (1759)
Fond du Lac (1740)
Winnebago (1739)
Washington (1728)

16/ 21st-30th most infected counties in WI:
County (cases/100k residents)
Dane (1693)
Waukesha (1697)
Grant (1615)
Eau Claire (1604)
Florence (1561)
Shawano (1469)
Jefferson (1468)
Rock (1427)
Ozaukee (1403)
Lafayette (1333)

17/17 31st-40th most infected WI counties in WI:
County (cases/100k residents)
Marquette (1314)
Sauk (1311)
Sheboygan (1303)
Menominee (1255)
Juneau (1230)
Green (1218)
**MEDIAN: 1200.5**
Sawyer (1183)
Waushara (1169)
Manitowoc (1128)
Green Lake (1111)