MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – With Dane County’s current COVID-19 emergency order expiring next week, local health officials have introduced a new order that further eases restrictions on individuals and businesses in the country.
“At the beginning of this pandemic, we started with clear goals – to try to reduce diseases and deaths in our community and to reduce the toll that families and health workers we have seen in too many places in the country,” Dane said. . County Paris Joe Parisi. “These new orders reflect the hope that we should all feel as more people are vaccinated and we get closer to the last chapters of this pandemic every day.”
The most important among the changes in emergency order no. 14 is increasing the limits for meeting for indoor and outdoor gatherings. An event with food or drink is limited to 150 people, while an event without food or drink is limited to 350 people. An outdoor event is limited to 500 people, regardless of the food or beverage option.
The department has also increased the restaurant capacity to 50%, while the taverns have to limit indoor dining to 25% of the approved seating capacity.
In both indoor and outdoor gatherings, health officials require people to keep 6 feet of social distance. Individuals must wear face masks at any indoor event, but masks are only required at outdoor events if the occupancy is more than 50 people.
Public Health Madison & Dane County Director Janel Heinrich explained that 18.5% of the residents of Dane Co. received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, demonstrating the progress made by Dane Co. made.
“But even at the current vaccination rate, we are already seeing significant and hopeful progress towards our end goal,” Heinrich said during a news conference.
In its statement, Madison & Dane Co., Public Health, outlined and highlighted the key changes from the previous order to the new.
- An event inside where food or drink is offered or provided is limited to 150 individuals. An event inside where food and drink are not offered or provided is limited to 350 individuals. Individuals must maintain physical distance of six feet and face covering is required.
- An outdoor gathering is limited to 500 individuals. Individuals must maintain physical distance of six feet. Facial coverage required at gatherings of more than 50 individuals.
- The policy requirements for the school’s safeguards have been updated and include articles on employee face covering and distancing, distancing for students and groupings for students.
- Restaurants can open up to 50% of their capacity.
- Taverns must limit indoor eating capacity to 25% of the approved seating capacity. Spacers and chairs to ensure at least six (6) feet of physical distance between customers who are not members of the same household or dwelling unit.
Parisi quoted the Light the Nights event during the Tuesday news conference on Monday night, noting that today’s emergency order could look to the future.
‘Last night we came together as a community to acknowledge the hardships and sacrifices we have all endured 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 increasing and carefully reopening our economy and our community. “
Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway supports the new order, but says residents still need to be vigilant if they need to protect themselves from COVID-19.
“Public health orders are designed to work at the population level to protect vulnerable people, maintain hospital capacity, suppress disease and prevent deaths,” the mayor said. “As an individual or family, you need to make stricter choices based on your convenience with risks.”
The order will take effect at 12:01 on Wednesday 10 March and will be valid for 28 days.
The following terms are unchanged between the previous and the most recent order:
- Face coverings are required in enclosed buildings, while driving with people who are not part of your household, and outside in a restaurant or tavern. The types of face masks allowed have been updated to reflect new CDC recommendations.
- Businesses are still limited to 50% of the approved building capacity and must have written cleaning and hygiene policies.
- Provisions for institutions of continuing education and higher education, industry-specific requirements, health care, public health, human service, infrastructure, manufacturing, government and religious entities and groups remain unchanged.
February’s order
The previous order increased the number of people allowed to meet at local businesses, with caps ranging from 25-100, depending on whether the business serves food or not and whether the event is held indoors or outdoors.
It also opened the door for games and competitions for games and competitions and drew the limit for childcare and kindergarten groups. The February 8 order, which went into effect two days later, would expire on March 10, subject to a replacement order.
At the time, Heinrich said she was “hopeful” that her agency would be able to continue for the next few months.
New cases falling
When issuing an order, an average of more than one hundred new COVID-19 cases are reported every day. Since then, the seven-day moving average has been reduced by almost half from 111.3 per day to 56.70 cases per day, according to the latest figures from PHMDC.
At its peak in November, Dane Co. on average almost 500 cases per day.
Along with the new restrictions, officials from Dane Co. also introduced a new Forward Dane plan outlining how the province plans to reopen.
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