Public Health Madison & Dane County on Friday issued a new public health order allowing Dane County to move into Phase 2 of the Forward Dane plan, effective 8 a.m. today, Monday, June 15.
Under Phase 2 and the new order:
- Businesses and recreation operations - including restaurants, bars, office spaces, gyms, hair salons, retail establishments, licensed swimming pools and places of amusement including movie theaters, museums and zoos - can operate at 50 percent capacity, with certain public health requirements and physical distancing.
- Outdoor playgrounds and splash pads will be allowed to reopen.
- Door-to-door solicitations will be allowed.
- Limitations on outdoor sporting activities will be relaxed slightly.
- Indoor mass gathering limits will be 50 people. Outdoor mass gathering limits will be 100 people. Social distancing will still be required.
Dane County will remain in Phase 2 for a minimum of two weeks. To move into Phase 3, more than half of metrics must be green and no metrics in Dane County or the southern region can be red.
During a briefing with stakeholders on Friday, a representative of Madison and Dane County Public Health noted that the metric of "new cases of COVID-19 per day" has been creeping up. Currently, the 14-day average for new cases of COVID-19 in Dane County is 16. If Dane County hits an average of 20 new cases per day, it hits a metric threshold that could impact future decisions by the health department on moving to a different phase.
