Shortly after the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-home order last week, pictures of people drinking in bars ricocheted around social media, creating the impression among some that the state was wide-open for business.
The photos made many public health officials cringe because of the risk of spreading COVID-19, but did they represent what was happening in businesses across Wisconsin?
New data suggests a different picture.
The data, gleaned from millions of cellphone signals, indicates an overall uptick in the number of residents leaving their homes in the hours and days after the order and a jump in restaurant and bar visits, an analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY shows.
