MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin doctors are worried repealing the statewide mask mandate could contribute to another surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Wisconsin State Senate voted Monday to repeal the state’s mask mandate, issued by the governor. Republican Senators said it’s not about wearing a mask, the governor overreached in the order. Democrats said if that’s the case, repeal the order, and let’s pass a mask order law together. The Assembly is set to vote on the repeal Thursday.

Dr. Bradley Burmeister is an ER doctor in Green Bay. He’s also on the Wisconsin Medical Association’s COVID-19 Task Force.

“You would see a bunch of people who had coronavirus, and they were a little sick,” he said. “And then we would see someone come to the ER who is just doing terrible, and really worrisome.”

He’d spent nearly a year now with COVID patients in his hospital.

“We were doubling patients every few days,” Burmeister said. “Our hospitalization rate was climbing very quickly”

Through Wisconsin’s worst surges, healthcare workers across the state have had to create contingency plans.

“The worst plan would be having people referred down to the state fairgrounds at State Fair Park in Milwaukee. We never had to do that,” he said. “But we were really close.”

He said over time, more people are masking up. That could be for lots of reasons; but he believes the statewide mask mandate is one of them.

“You always have early adopters, those are people who will do whatever right away. And then you have the middle group, and then you have the late adopters,” Burmeister said. “When we have policy requirements, like a mask mandate, some of those late adopters will start to wear masks just because there's a law or someone is telling them to do it.”

If the legislature repeals the statewide mandate, cities and counties can have their own mask orders. Individual businesses can require masks in their buildings. However, Burmeister said having the same rules for the entire state can have a huge impact.

“The path of least resistance is just for us to have a statewide law or agreement that this is going to be something that we're going to do as a community, we're gonna do this together,” he said.

Doctors all over the state hope even if the legislature reverses the mask order, Wisconsinites mask up anyway.

“I would wear a mask wherever I go, no matter what the local regulation or policy is right now,” Burmeister said. “We're hoping that most people will continue to follow the public health measures."

Even though a vaccine is on the way, doctors said the lower our COVID-19 numbers are in Wisconsin, the faster the vaccine will make a difference in our communities.

“I try to give the analogy of putting out a fire. If the fire’s blazing and it's a huge fire, and you're trying to put out it with a little tiny hose, meaning that you only have a little vaccine trying to put out a really bad viral infection, it’s hard,” Burmeister said.

“But if you have a really small fire, or you have a really big hose, it's easier to put that fire out.”