How the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in Madison and Wisconsin
From the 'Every aspect of our lives has been turned on its head': The COVID-19 pandemic one year on series
A year into a once-in-a-century pandemic, Madison and Wisconsin continue to grapple with a virus that's killed thousands, destroyed businesses, upended school and changed nearly all aspects of everyday life.
It's been 12 months of grief, shutdowns, reopenings, protective measures, partisan fighting, lawsuits and loss. Here's how events unfolded in Madison and Wisconsin since last March.
Jan. 30, 2020
Jan. 30, 2020: After a trip to Beijing, a Dane County resident shows up at UW Hospital's emergency room, becoming the first person in Wisconsin and 12th in the nation to test positive for a novel coronavirus gripping China.
March 11, 2020
March 11, 2020: In a banner date locally and nationally, UW-Madison announces plans to temporarily suspend in-person classes and empty out dorms on the same day the viral outbreak is declared a pandemic.
March 19, 2020
March 19, 2020: Wisconsin records the first of what would eventually become thousands of deaths in the pandemic after two men fall victim to the virus.
March 25, 2020
March 25, 2020: In the most sweeping measure yet, Evers' "safer at home" order takes effect, which shutters "nonessential" businesses, urges residents to stay home and eventually becomes the target of Republican-led legal challenges.
April 15, 2020
April 15, 2020: Evers signs the first and only pandemic-related legislation of the year to come out of the Republican-held state Legislature before bipartisan cooperation breaks down over an extension of the "safer at home" order.
Scenes from a city sheltering in place
May 11, 2020
May 11, 2020: Free community testing for COVID-19 begins at the Alliant Energy Center.
May 13, 2020
May 13, 2020: Along ideological lines, the Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down the "safer at home" order, limiting the Evers administration's ability to implement future statewide orders. Restrictions are put in place immediately in Dane County and other places. But elsewhere, people flood the bars.
May 26, 2020
May 26, 2020: After more than two months of shutdowns, Dane County's "nonessential" businesses are allowed to partially reopen as local restrictions begin to slowly ease.
July 13, 2020
July 13, 2020: A local face mask mandate by the joint city-county health department takes effect for all of Dane County. Bending to increasing public pressure, Evers later issues a statewide mask rule.
Sept. 9, 2020
Sept. 9, 2020: As cases surge on campus, UW-Madison takes its most drastic step to preserve a semblance of a regular semester by moving all classes online and quarantining two dorms for two weeks.
Friday night lights out: A drone tour of the Madison-area's empty football stadiums
Dec. 14, 2020
Dec. 14, 2020: Ten UW Health employees are among the first in Wisconsin to get the country’s first approved vaccine as the nationwide inoculation effort gets underway.
Jan. 25, 2021
Jan. 25, 2021: Joining frontline health care employees and other groups, Wisconsin residents age 65 and older become eligible for the vaccine, marking the first shift to getting the shots in the arms of the general public.
March 1, 2021
March 1, 2021: Dane County's victims of the pandemic are remembered and honored during a "day of remembrance" as the vaccine eligibility expands to teachers and others.
In this Series
'Every aspect of our lives has been turned on its head': The COVID-19 pandemic one year on
"It’s a risk vs. reward thing and I risk my life to save others," said Brandon Jones, who always worried about bringing the virus home to his wife and two kids.
“Truly every aspect of our lives has been turned on its head,” said Malia Jones, a UW-Madison infectious disease epidemiologist.
A year into a once-in-a-century pandemic, Madison and Wisconsin continue to grapple with a virus that's killed thousands, destroyed businesses…
In its effort to make streets more pedestrian-friendly, Madison and other cities around the country have long relied on “mixed-use” developments, which combine offices and retail space on the first floor with apartments or condos in the stories above.
"It’s a risk vs. reward thing and I risk my life to save others," said Brandon Jones, who always worried about bringing the virus home to his wife and two kids.
"If you would have told me last March that we'd be virtual for a year, I'd never, ever would have believed it."
