Officials give Coronavirus update in Milwaukee, man wears hazmat suit at Mitchell airport

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- As concern over the Coronavirus continue to spread across the U.S., Milwaukee's mayor is pushing a message of calmness.

"The key word is preparation with the hope that none of this is ever going to be necessary in our community," Mayor Tom Barrett said.

There are no cases in the city or county, but leaders are readying their emergency response.

Barrett said he's already reached out to various hospital officials.

"If we come to the point, which again I stress I hope we never come to the point, where we need hospital beds how quickly can we mobilize that."

Meanwhile, the city's commercial testing lab opened last week.

"We've received two samples. Those to samples were negative," City of Milwaukee Commissioner of Health Jeanette Kowalik, said.

States, including Wisconsin, are set to get federal support.

Congress passed an $8 billion dollar package to fight the Coronavirus, with mandatory funding for state and local efforts.

"Almost $500 million dollars of those monies must be deployed within the next 30 days," Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D) said.

As for the four people who were under a voluntary quarantine in Milwaukee, Kowalik said three were cleared.

City officials were unable to give an update on the last person, but assured there are no active Coronavirus cases.

And as the city prepares, some people taking serious precautions.

Milwaukee resident Charlie Quaintance wore a hazmat suit to fly out of Mitchell Airport this weekend.

He wore it during his entire flight to Florida, and said he used ice to cool himself on the plane.

As expected, it took more time to get through security, but he said he has an underlying health condition so he takes extra precautions.



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