“This Virus Doesn’t Care”: Rep. Bowen Statement on Protest at the Capitol

MILWAUKEE – In response to the planned protests against the extension of Wisconsin’s Safer-at-Home Order, State Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee), who himself contracted and recovered from COVID-19, released the following statement:

“It truly disheartens me to see people in our state who are unwilling to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously. Safer-at-Home is working – because of the collective actions of millions of responsible Wisconsinites, we have been able to keep the nightmare scenario of our hospitals & community health centers being overrun at bay. But just because we’ve been successful so far doesn’t mean that we’re in the clear, and scientific projections show that if we open the state back up too quickly, before the worst threat of this epidemic has passed, we run the risk of ending up right back at square one and undoing all of the gains we’ve made so far. In a playoff game, would we want to see the Packers stop playing as hard after halftime because we started off winning?”

Protests by a vocal small segment of Wisconsinites, displeased with Sec.-Designee Andrea Palm’s order to extend the Safer-at-Home guidelines, are scheduled to take place this afternoon outside of the State Capitol in Madison. At the same time, cases of COVID-19 and deaths from the virus continue to rise in Wisconsin, particularly in Milwaukee. Just this week, a beloved Shorewood businesswoman, Gloria Robinson of Nino’s Southern Sides Restaurant, passed away from complications caused by the coronavirus, adding her name to the list of people from the 10th Assembly District and across the state who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

“To the people upset by the extension of the Safer-at-Home order: I hear and see you. I understand your frustrations. But we all have to show compassion and solidarity with everyone who calls Wisconsin home in order to make it through these difficult times. Coming together in large groups is counterproductive to preparing our economy to fully open again – adding fuel to this virus will only make it last longer. Take it from someone who contracted COVID-19 and recovered: this virus doesn’t care that you are upset. All this virus wants to do is harm you and the people you care about, and we all have a responsibility to make that as difficult as possible by staying safe and staying at home.”