An order from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration that severely limited capacity in bars, restaurants, and other indoor places was temporarily blocked by a judge Wednesday.
Sawyer County Circuit Judge John Yackel set a court date for Monday, the Associated Press reported. The judge’s decision comes one day after the Tavern League of Wisconsin, Sawyer County Tavern League, and the Flambeau Forest Inn in the village of Winter sued Evers’ administration over the coronavirus restrictions, arguing that their businesses could not operate profitably in those conditions. (RELATED: AG Barr: Besides Slavery, National Coronavirus Lockdown Is The ‘Greatest Intrusion On Civil Liberties’)
A Wisconsin judge temporarily blocks an order from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration limiting the number of people in bars, restaurants and other places because of more virus cases. The order limited customers in indoor establishments to 25% of capacity. https://t.co/XrRpAkOqPC
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 14, 2020
The restrictions, which the governor issued in an order last week, limit indoor spaces to 25% of their full capacity, according to the Associated Press. Evers said that the order was issued to slow the spread of coronavirus after Wisconsin hospitals began overflowing with new patients. Wisconsin opened a field hospital Wednesday near Milwaukee to handle the large number of new coronavirus patients, which hit a record high Tuesday.
The Tavern League, which lobbies on behalf of Wisconsin’s bars and taverns, called the restrictions a “defacto closure” in the lawsuit, arguing that businesses cannot operate under the conditions. The Flambeau Forest Inn said in the lawsuit that the capacity restrictions would force their business to have only 10 people in the building, which includes 5 employees needed to operate the restaurant.
“Flambeau could not operate profitably under these conditions and would be forced to discontinue its business operations,” the lawsuit read, according to the Associated Press.
Wisconsin broke their record for new coronavirus cases Tuesday, reporting 3,279 new cases according to the Associated Press. There have been 1,508 coronavirus deaths and 155,000 confirmed cases in Wisconsin since the pandemic began.