Just in time for the warmer weather, Dane County has relaxed restrictions on outdoor gatherings starting next week. Authorities caution, however, that more contagious variants of the coronavirus are aggressively seeking out human hosts and urged continued social distancing and use of masks when that's not possible.
Starting next week, Dane County residents can get together outside in groups as large as they want — as long as people keep 6 feet apart — and face masks are no longer required in those situations, the joint city-county health department announced Friday.
In its latest order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Health Madison and Dane County has lifted all capacity limits for outdoor events, dropped a mask mandate for outside gatherings and allowed self-service food stations to resume, such as salad bars, buffets and build-your-own Bloody Mary bars.
The order, which takes effect Wednesday and runs through May 5, also lets public saunas and steam rooms reopen, with certain provisions, and makes industry-specific changes for distancing and cleaning requirements at child care providers and schools.
See how the annual Mifflin Street Block Party has changed in the decades since it began as a rallying point for the anti-war movement in Madison in the spring of 1969.
“We’re happy to take a step forward today, but we cannot let our guard down yet,” Public Health director Janel Heinrich said in a statement. “Please continue to follow the precautions that have gotten us to this moment so we don’t have to go backwards.”
The order builds on bubbling optimism that a degree of normalcy will return this summer as vaccination efforts ramp up in Dane County and across the state. Just this week, the Dane County Fair announced the event will return in person in July at the Alliant Energy Center, and organizers of two popular East Side outdoor music festivals — the Marquette Waterfront Festival and Orton Park Festival — said they plan to merge the events into a joint festival in August.
“With lifting the restrictions on the number of people, I think we’re hopeful that we’ll have a lot more events this summer,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at a news conference Friday. “We just need to make sure we continue to do that in a way that’s safe, and that we continue to advocate for people to get vaccinated.”
She added organizers of outdoor events will need to determine themselves whether there’s enough space for people to socially distance or if masks will be required.
With the capacity restriction being lifted on gatherings outdoor — where the risk of infection is lower — Heinrich said Public Health will continue to enforce the requirement to socially distance largely through a complaint-based system.
Traveling out of state for spring break “absolutely” remains a concern, however, particularly if the travel is to states where there’s higher circulation of more contagious variants of the coronavirus, Heinrich said. The health department will continue to monitor whether such travel raises infection rates in the county, she said.
Public Health cited a month of “stable and improving COVID-19 data, specifically a dramatic increase in vaccination numbers,” as reasons for the new order.
As of Thursday, Public Health said 39.2% of Dane County’s population had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 23.1% when the existing health order took effect March 10.
“While we are not yet at the place of herd immunity, this is significant protection for our community,” Heinrich said.
The seven-day case average and hospitalization rate also remained steady over the period. On March 10, the county had an average of 55 cases per day and 15 people were hospitalized, compared with an average of 51 cases per day and 20 hospitalizations on Thursday, according to Public Health.
The new emergency order — the 15th iteration since the start of the pandemic last year — does not change indoor gathering or capacity limits and still requires masks to be worn indoors for everyone age 5 and older, with limited exceptions for fully vaccinated people.
Those rules limit restaurants to 50% of their capacity, while taverns are allowed to seat up to 25% of their capacity. Indoor gatherings are still limited to 350 people, and cloth face coverings are still required, and businesses are limited to 50% of capacity.
The loosening of restrictions come days after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ latest COVID-19 emergency order and accompanying statewide mask mandate. Local governments are still free to issue their own virus restrictions, including mask mandates.
Under the current Dane County order, outdoor gatherings are limited to 500 people or fewer, not including employees, and face masks are required at an outdoor gathering of more than 50 people.
When the new order takes effect, Public Health strongly recommends mask use at outdoor events if it’s not possible to socially distance.
“We’re closely watching what’s happening in other states with case counts and hospitalizations ticking up and more infectious variants spreading more broadly,” Heinrich said. “COVID-19 is still circulating, and we are seeing cases and hospitalizations stall instead of decrease here in Dane County, so we are proceeding with caution.”
PICTURING A PANDEMIC: SEE THE LAST YEAR THROUGH THE EYES OF THE STATE JOURNAL’S PHOTOGRAPHERS
Picturing a pandemic: See the last year through the eyes of the Wisconsin State Journal's photographers
At least 28 Madison-area restaurants closed last year while 91% of businesses reported revenue declined. Though the economy has begun to recover, the pandemic's major financial toll continues. Hawk's Bar and Grill, shown here last March, remains open.
Tammi McCarthy and her children, Kenadie, 8, and Kullen, 5, adjust to making educational studies a part of home life as they work on a table especially-assembled for school work in their home in Sun Prairie on March 18, 2020.
India Anderson-Carter, right, learns that she will be a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison through a Virtual Match Day, due to COVID-19, hosted by UW School of Medicine and Public Health, as her family, including her sister, Lexus, at left, react to the news in the basement of her parents' home in Madison on March 20, 2020.
Hanah Jon Taylor plays the saxophone outside his jazz club, Cafe Coda on Williamson Street in Madison on March 21, 2020. The cafe was ordered to close along with bars and restaurants across the state.
In hindsight, the sign on the Orpheum Theater on State Street in Downtown Madison, pictured here on March 23, 2020, was overly optimistic. Closures of theaters, restaurants, bars and other businesses would stretch well beyond March.
With the "Safer at Home" order from the governor, traffic volume fell dramatically in Madison. The view is of West Washington Avenue on March 25,2020.
A window decorated by Amina Diallo, 10, at her home in Deforest offers support to essential workers continuing their duties in the midst of the pandemic. Part of a nationwide effort to show appreciation for those whose careers are required during the global health crisis, each color represents a different line of work. Among the groups included are health care workers, of which her mother, BethAnn Soiliman-Abdalla, a nurse, is included. She is pictured at her home on April 1, 2020.
Dr. Matt Nolan shares an "air hug" with his son Condict, 3, outside the family’s home in Madison on April 2, 2020, as his wife, Dr. Maggie Nolan, holds their son Arthur, 1, with Charlotte, 6, nearby.
Doug Milks clean voting booths after they were used at East High School on April 7, 2020.
Town of Dunn resident Robert Wilson reviews his selections on his ballot while voting at the town's highway garage building on April 7, 2020.
Family members and friends of Donald Harrop celebrate his 103rd birthday through a closed doorway at the Milestone Senior Living Center in Cross Plains on April 24, 2020. Born in 1917, Harrop has now experienced two pandemics, the Spanish Flu of 1918, and the current COVID-19 crisis.
Long-time friends, from left, Mary Power, of Fitchburg, Karen Kilroy, of Stoughton, Jane Morgan, of Oregon, and Pattie Sartori, of Stoughton, at right, practice social distancing as they gather for an overdue visit, which included sharing books and food recipes, at Waterman Triangle Park in downtown Oregon May 6, 2020.
A statue of Abraham Lincoln, a traditional gathering spot for photos of graduates at UW-Madison remains fenced-off to visitors as the university takes precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 virus on May 7, 2020.
UW-Madison graduates, from left, Jacob Tottleben, of St. Louis, Lindsey Fischer, of La Crosse, and Olivia Gonzalez, of Milwaukee, open bottles of champagne at the State and Park Street crosswalk to celebrate after watching their virtual spring commencement ceremony on the rooftop of Fischer's apartment on May 9, 2020.
Jeff Langner, right, works with Patricia Grillot, Madison, on finding the shoes on the first day that Morgan Shoes was open again on May 12, 2020.
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard setting up a new site to collect samples from people in their vehicles at a free community testing site for COVID-19 at the Alliant Energy Center on May 13, 2020.
Lynn DuPree, front, and John Burgar, both of Madison, use slot machines that have protective dividers between them at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison in Madison on June 9, 2020.
Dan Tortorice, center, with his grandchildren, Aria Oettiker, 9, left, and her brother, Anthony, 6, during a visit to Vilas Zoo on June 18, 2020, the first day of the reopening since it closed due to the pandemic.
Members of the UW-Madison marching band wear face coverings and play instruments with bell covers during a limited capacity practice session on the campus on Aug. 27, 2020.
With students seated at a distance from each other, UW-Madison philosophy professor Harry Brighouse leads a discussion in an Ingraham Hall lecture room on Sept. 1, 2020.
A sign in a window at Sellery Hall, one of two residence halls at UW-Madison that were on day one of a 14-day quarantine on Sept., 10, 2020.
Unloading food at Sellery Hall. Witte and Sellery Halls were on day one of a 14-day quarantine on Sept., 10, 2020.
Pastor Karla Renee Garcia holds a service in the parking lot at S.S. Morris Community AME Church on Milwaukee Street in Madison on Sept. 13, 2020.
With positive COVID-19 cases surging in college communities across the state, Gov. Tony Evers extended the statewide mask mandate through late November. Pedestrians on State Street were photographed on Sept., 22, 2020.
Election Day voting at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Nov., 3, 2020.
As staff in the expanding COVID-19 unit at UW Hospital worked tirelessly to care for a soaring tally of coronavirus patients in November, nurse Ainsley Billesbach expressed frustration that people weren't taking the disease more seriously. “We’re eight, nine months into this, and we have the maximum patients we can handle right now,” she said then.
Kate Dale, left, and her sister, Meg Prestigiacomo, with a picture of their mother, Anne Heine, who died from COVID-19 in July on her 73rd birthday, outside Prestigiacomo's home in Madison on Nov. 19, 2020.
No spectators are allowed in the Kohl Center due to COVID-19 as Wisconsin Badgers take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions in a men's basketball game on Nov. 27, 2020.
Members of the Lodi basketball team spread out on the bleachers when not playing, during a game against New Glarus at Lodi High School in Lodi on Dec. 11, 2020.
Members of the Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team celebrate a point during the second set of a season-opening Big Ten matchup against Purdue at the Wisconsin Fieldhouse on Jan. 22, 2021.
Logan Wroge | Wisconsin State Journal
Logan Wroge is the K-12 education reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal. He has been with the newspaper since 2015.
