AP: Gov. Evers' stay-at-home extension draws anger, pleas for help

FILE - In this June 20, 2019, file photo, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, surrounded by Democratic... — FILE - In this June 20, 2019, file photo, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, surrounded by Democratic lawmakers and members of his Cabinet at a Capitol news conference, is urging Republicans who control the Legislature to pass a state budget that includes Medicaid expansion and more money for schools, in Madison, Wis. Wisconsin's conservative-controlled Supreme Court on Friday, June 21, 2019, upheld lame-duck laws limiting the powers of Democratic Gov. Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, handing Republican lawmakers a resounding victory. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)(NBC15)

By Todd Richmond, Jackson Danbeck

Published: Apr. 25, 2020 at 10:11 AM CDT

Wisconsin residents bombarded Gov. Tony Evers' office in the hours surrounding his decision to extend the state's stay-at-home order with hundreds of emails blasting him for destroying the state's economy and begging him to let their business remain open, records The Associated Press obtained show.

Evers' website received about 6,435 messages between the morning of April 16 and 5 p.m. on April 17, the day Evers extended stay-at-home to May 26.

A majority of senders opposed the order. Some called the extension "political suicide" for the governor.

Meanwhile Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin DHS

argue

that if they don't extend the stay-at-home order, Wisconsin will lose all the progress it has made so far in containing the virus.

According to

DHS numbers

Saturday morning, there are 5,356 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, 262 deaths related to the virus and 54,573 negative test results. DHS graphs show that the rate of new cases as well as the number of total cases have yet to plateau.