Surgeon General Jerome Adams tells Wisconsin residents to ‘vote remotely’ or wear facial coverings

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday said Wisconsin residents should “vote remotely” or consider wearing protective facial coverings as the state plows forward with its presidential primary.

“My recommendation is that if you can vote remotely — and I’m not familiar with what other options they have available — please do that,” Dr. Adams said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“If you can’t, then please try to maintain 6 feet of distance between you and the next nearest person,” he said. “And also please — this is one situation where I would really say consider wearing a cloth facial covering.”

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court on Monday blocked Gov. Tony Evers’ attempt to delay the primary until June amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The U.S. Supreme Court also blocked a lower court’s ruling that would have extended absentee balloting until April 13.

In order to count, a voter’s absentee ballot has to be hand-delivered by 8 p.m. Tuesday or postmarked by April 7 and received by 4 p.m. next Tuesday, April 13, the U.S. Supreme Court said.

In a break from past guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week advised that the general public should consider wearing protective face coverings in public in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” Dr. Adams had said on Twitter in late February. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

Officials now say that masks could prevent unwitting or asymptomatic carriers from infecting others.

A number of other states had previously delayed their presidential primaries, saying voters shouldn’t have to choose between exercising a constitutional right and protecting their own health.

The off-again-on-again nature of the Wisconsin primary somewhat echoes what went on in Ohio last month.

Gov. Mike DeWine had asked a court to grant a delay in the March 17 primary amid the coronavirus epidemic, but a judge declined a motion to delay in-person voting.

Unlike Wisconsin, Mr. DeWine then invoked a health emergency to order the polls closed.