MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – With Dane County’s current COVID-19 emergency order expiring next week, local health officials have introduced a new order, further easing restrictions on people and businesses in Dane County. county.
“We came out at the beginning of this pandemic with clear goals: to try to minimize disease and death in our community and reduce the toll that this pandemic suffered on families and health workers that we saw in too many places. this country, ”said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “These new orders reflect the hope we should all feel as more people get vaccinated and we get closer every day that passes to the final chapters of this pandemic.”
The most important among the changes to the emergency order no. 14 is to increase meeting limits for indoor and outdoor meetings. A meeting with food or drink is limited to 150 people, while a meeting without food or drink is limited to 350 people. An outdoor meeting is limited to 500 people, regardless of the choice of food or drink.
The department also increased restaurant capacity by up to 50%, while taverns must limit indoor dining capacity to 25% of approved capacity.
In both indoor and outdoor meetings, health officials require people to continue to maintain 6 feet of social distancing. Individuals must wear face masks at any indoor meeting, but masks are only required at outdoor meetings if occupancy exceeds 50 people.
Madison and Dane County Public Health Director Janel Heinrich explained that 18.5% of Dane Co. residents. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which shows the progress made by Dane Co.
“But even at our current rate of vaccination, we are already seeing significant and hopeful progress toward our ultimate goal,” Heinrich said during a press conference.
In its statement, Public Health Madison & Dane Co. detailed and highlighted the main changes of the previous order to the new one.
- An indoor gathering where food or drink is offered or provided is limited to 150 people. An indoor gathering where no food or drink is offered or offered is limited to 350 people. People must maintain a physical distance of six feet and face must be covered.
- An outdoor gathering is limited to 500 people. People must maintain a physical distance of six feet. Facial coatings are required in meetings of more than 50 people.
- School policy protection policy requirements were updated and include articles on employee face coverage and distancing, distancing for students, and student groups.
- Restaurants can open up to 50% of their capacity.
- Taverns must limit indoor dining capacity to 25% of approved capacity levels. Space tables and chairs to ensure a minimum physical distance of 6 feet between customers who are not members of the same household or livable unit.
Parisi cited Monday night’s Light the Nights event during Tuesday’s press conference, noting that today’s emergency order may look to the future.
“Last night we met as a community to recognize the hardships and sacrifices we have all suffered as individuals and as a community over the past year. Today we can look to the future with cautious optimism and hope as we advance the process of progressive and careful reopening of 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,” the mayor said. “As an individual or family, you may have to make stricter decisions based on your comfort and risks.”
The order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10 and will remain in effect for 28 days.
The following provisions remain unchanged between the previous order and the last order:
- Facial coatings are required in enclosed buildings, while driving with people who are not part of your home and outdoors in a restaurant or tavern. Allowed facial cover types were updated to reflect the new CDC recommendations.
- Companies remain limited to 50% of the approved building capacity and must have written cleaning and hygiene policies in place.
- Provisions for continuing education and higher education institutions, industry-specific requirements, health care, public health, human services, infrastructure, manufacturing, government, and religious industries remain unchanged.
Order of February
The previous order had increased the number of people allowed to meet in local companies, with corks ranging from 25 to 100 depending on whether or not the company served food and whether the meeting was held at inside or outside.
It also opened the door to games and competitions for games and competitions and lowered the limit to daycare and kindergarten groups. The order of February 8, which came into force two days later, was to expire on March 10, with the exception of a supplementary order.
At the time, Heinrich said he “hopes” his agency can continue to do so in the coming months.
New cases plummeted
When the order was issued, more than one hundred new cases of COVID-19 were reported every day. Since then, the seven-day rotating average has dropped by almost half, from 111.3 a day to 56.70 cases a day, according to the latest PHMDC figures.
At its peak in November, Dane Co. he averaged about 500 cases a day.
Coinciding with the new restrictions, Dane Co. officials. they have also deployed a new Forward Dane plan that describes how the county plans to reopen.
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