MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – With Dane County’s current COVID-19 emergency order set to expire next week, local health officials have introduced a new order, further easing restrictions on individuals and businesses in the county.
“We established at the beginning of this pandemic with clear goals – to try to minimize illness and death in our community and to reduce the number of victims that this pandemic caused to families and health professionals that we saw in many places of this country”, said Joe Parisi County Executive . “These new orders reflect the hope that we should all feel as more people are vaccinated and we approach the final chapters of this pandemic each day.”
The most important among the changes in Emergency Order # 14 is the increase in the collection limits for internal and external meetings. A meeting with food or drinks is limited to 150 people, while a meeting without food or drinks is limited to 350 people. An open-air meeting is limited to 500 people, regardless of the choice of food or drink.
The department has also increased the restaurant’s capacity to 50%, while taverns are expected to limit the indoor dining capacity to 25% of the approved seating capacity.
Both in internal and external meetings, health authorities demand that people continue to maintain a social distance of 1.8 m. Individuals must wear face masks at any internal meeting, but masks are only required at external meetings if the occupancy exceeds 50 people.
Madison and Dane County Public Health Director Janel Heinrich explained that 18.5% of Dane Co. residents received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which shows the progress Dane Co. has made.
“But, even at our current vaccination rate, we are already seeing significant and hopeful progress in relation to our ultimate goal,” Heinrich said during a news conference.
In its statement, Public Health Madison & Dane Co. detailed and highlighted the main changes from the previous order to the new one.
- An internal meeting where food or drink is offered or provided is limited to 150 people. An internal meeting where food or drink is not offered or provided is limited to 350 people. Individuals must maintain a physical distance of 1.8 m and facial coverage is mandatory.
- An external meeting is limited to 500 people. Individuals must maintain a physical distance of 1.8 m. Facial coverings required in meetings of more than 50 people.
- The school protection measures policy requirements have been updated and include items on coverage and facial distance for employees, distance for students and groupings of students.
- Restaurants can open up to 50% of their capacity.
- Taverns must limit the indoor dining capacity to 25% of the approved seating capacity levels. Space for tables and chairs to ensure at least six (6) feet of physical distance between customers who are not members of the same residence or living unit.
Parisi cited Monday’s Light the Nights event during Tuesday’s press conference, noting that today’s emergency order may look to the future.
“Last night, we came together as a community to recognize the difficulties and sacrifices that we have all endured as individuals and as a community in the past year. Today we can look to the future, with cautious optimism and hope, as we move forward in the process of gradually and carefully reopening our economy and our community. “
Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway supported the new order, but said residents still need to be vigilant when it comes to protecting themselves against COVID-19.
“Public health orders are designed to work at the population level to protect vulnerable people, preserve hospital capacity, suppress disease and prevent deaths,” said the mayor. “As an individual or a family, you may need to make more rigorous choices based on your comfort with the risks.”
The order takes effect at 12:01 pm on Wednesday, March 10 and will remain in effect for 28 days.
The following provisions have not been changed between the previous request and the last request:
- Facial coverage is required in closed buildings, when driving with people who are not part of your home, and outdoors in a restaurant or tavern. The types of facial coverage allowed have been updated to reflect the new CDC recommendations.
- Companies continue to be limited to 50% of approved construction capacity and must have cleaning and hygiene policies in place.
- Provisions for continuing education and higher education institutions, sector-specific requirements, health care, public health, human services, infrastructure, manufacturing, government and religious entities and groups remain unchanged.
February Order
The previous order had increased the number of people who could meet at local businesses, with limits ranging from 25 to 100 depending on whether the business served food or not and whether the meeting was held indoors or outdoors.
It also opened the doors for games and competitions for games and competitions and pulled the limit for daycare centers and kindergarten groups. The February 8 order, which went into effect two days later, was set to expire on March 10, preventing a replacement order.
At the time, Heinrich said he was “hopeful” that his agency could continue to do so in the coming months.
New cases plummeting
When the order was issued, more than 100 new COVID-19 cases, on average, were reported each day. Since then, the seven-day moving average has almost halved, from 111.3 to 56.70 cases per day, according to the latest PHMDC data.
At its peak in November, Dane Co. averaged nearly 500 cases a day.
Coinciding with the new restrictions, Dane Co. employees have also launched a new Forward Dane plan that describes how the county plans to reopen.
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