MADISON (NBC 26) -- Gov. Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency and new face covering order Friday in Wisconsin.
A statement from the governor's office said Wisconsin’s hospitals are operating at or very near full capacity and healthcare providers are struggling to keep up with the demand for care.
Governor Evers issued Executive Order #95 and Emergency Order #1. Both orders are effective immediately and will expire after 60 days or with a subsequent superseding order, a statement from the governor's office said.
With Friday’s new face covering order, Wisconsin residents ages five and older are required to wear a face covering when they are indoors or in an enclosed space with anyone outside their household or living unit.
The announcement from the governor's office came on a day that the state Department of Health Services reported 78 more deaths and 6,473 additional positive cases of COVID-19. To date, there have been nearly 345,000 positive cases and 2,954 deaths. There were 2,104 people hospitalized as of Thursday, down from an all-time high set on Tuesday, according to the hospital association.
There were 1,626 new cases per 100,000 people in Wisconsin over the past two weeks, which ranks fifth in the country for new cases per capita, according to data from Johns Hopkins. One in every 120 people in Wisconsin tested positive in the past week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.