MADISON – Wisconsin Republicans are suing to block a mask mandate as COVID-19 spreads like wildfire across the state. Over 127,000 people have tested positive and hospitals are reaching capacity and forced to waitlist patients. For the past seven months, Republican legislators and candidates like Dan Kapanke have continually downplayed and denied the severity of this public health crisis.

 

“Dan Kapanke followed the Republican lead by spreading misinformation and downplaying the severity of this public health crisis,” said Democratic Party spokeswoman, Kate Constalie. “This negligence has contributed to skyrocketing cases in the region. To make matters worse, his own party is using taxpayers dollars to block life-saving safety precautions. Kapanke has blatantly refused to adhere to COVID safety precautions and his recklessness is putting our community at risk. He has made it clear that his own political ambitions are more important than the health and wellbeing of our students, families and seniors.”

 

Kapanke was an early critic of efforts to fight the pandemic; he attended an early protest of the state’s Safer-At-Home order and even questioned the data collection of local health agencies. Kapanke has also spread false information about mask usage and has gone so far as to say that COVID-19 is “hard to catch”.

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