Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday declared a state of emergency and said he would extend the state’s face mask mandate until 2021, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge and temperatures decrease. “It’s clear based on where we’re headed we can not afford to stop or have a gap in some of the only mitigation efforts we have in place,” Evers said in a Wednesday briefing. He asked that Republican and conservative lawmakers stop challenging his protocols with a lawsuit aimed to block the new mandate. Wisconsin has hit a new record for positive COVID-19 cases in one day, reporting 7,989 new infections and 52 deaths.