COVID 19 Updates, 3/15/2020

Thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout this unprecendented time of long term school closings, and social distancing, etc. This is a very challenging time for our entire community, and our actions now will be important for preventing the spread of this virus. With that, I am sharing the latest update from Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC). I will continue to share updates, but please feel free to follow them for more information. 

On March 13, 2020, Public Health Madison & Dane County issued orders to stop mass gatherings of 250 or more people across the county to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This order has been updated to include places of worship and religious gathering centers of over 50 people, effective March 14, 2020 at 4:00pm.

"Limiting large gatherings of people is an important tool to prevent the spread of illness. We would like to thank all the places of worship who have taken measures to protect their patron's health and safety regardless of gathering size," said Janel Heinrich, Director of Public Health Madison & Dane County.

Public Health has statutory authority to protect the health of the community and could limit gatherings even more in the future.

At this time, for gatherings with fewer than 250 attendees, Public Health Madison & Dane County strongly recommends the following precautionary steps:

1. Older adults and individuals with underlying medical conditions that are at increased risk of COVID-19 are encouraged not to attend (including employees);
2. Social distancing recommendations should be met (limit contact of people within 6 feet from each other for 10 minutes or longer);
3. Proper hand hygiene and sanitation available to all attendees and employees;
4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

This is a rapidly evolving situation. For the latest information, visit the CDC's coronavirus website, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, or the Public Health Madison & Dane County coronavirus page.

You can stay up to date by subscribing to the City's newsletters, which include all City agencies press releases (including Public Health): https://www.cityofmadison.com/news

COVID-19 and city meetings:

At the moment there is no plan to cancel regularly scheduled Council meetings. The 3/17 Council agenda includes an ordinance change to allow us to hold Council meeting by phone or via the web. The meeting that will always be prioritized is the Council meeting as we may need to make decisions regarding COVID-19 and we also may need to act on time sensitive legislative items. 

City Committee Meetings: The 3/17 Council agenda includes an ordinance change to cancel all meetings with the exception of those the Mayor and Council President determine essential functions or support the operations of the City. The Mayor has sent an email to committee staff asking to prioritize legislative items. The Mayor and Council President will be meeting to come up with a list of essential and non-essential committees and will share that with alders by Tuesday (3/17) and enter it into the legislative file related to committee meetings.

Public Information and Neighborhood Meetings: Wednesday's PIM regarding Green Infrastructure, and Tuesday 3/24's meeting regarding a potential parking ramp on Price Place have been cancelled. Any future informational meetings will not be held until after the risk has been raised.