Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed Wisconsin Republicans for that state’s recent spike in coronavirus cases, saying, “Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health.”
Lightfoot made her comments after Wisconsin health officials announced Wednesday that a field hospital will open next week at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as a surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has repeatedly clashed with Republicans in that state over measures to curb the coronavirus.
Conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ monthslong stay-at-home order in May.
Referring to the field hospital, Lightfoot said, “The fact that, in October, a state is having to open up a field hospital because of the stress on the health care system, because of the explosion in cases requiring hospitalizations, is a disgrace.”
And alluding to the clashes between Evers and Republicans, Lightfoot said, “Public health should never be politicized.”
“In a time of crisis as we are right now, in a global pandemic, the fact that those partisans put their party over public health is shameful,” Lightfoot said.
Only 16% of Wisconsin’s 11,452 hospital beds were available as of Tuesday afternoon, according to state health department. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had grown to 853, its highest during the pandemic, according to the COVID Tracking Project, with 216 in intensive care.
The Associated Press contributed.
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