//How pandemic fatigue and polarization led to Wisconsin’s massive Covid-19 outbreak

How pandemic fatigue and polarization led to Wisconsin’s massive Covid-19 outbreak

Members of the Wisconsin National Guard test residents for the coronavirus at a temporary test facility set up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 9, 2020. | Scott Olson/Getty Images

Wisconsin’s coronavirus cases have skyrocketed. Here’s why.

The coronavirus epidemic in Wisconsin is so bad that, earlier this month, the state opened field hospitals to take on a wave of cases and deaths that officials feared would overwhelm the health care system.

The US has one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the world, and Wisconsin has one of the worst outbreaks within the US. Only the Dakotas and Montana have higher rates of daily new cases. Wisconsin’s outbreak also shows no signs of abating: Since the beginning of October, the seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases has risen by almost 40 percent. Covid-19 deaths have increased by more than 95 percent over