On May 19, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson joined CARW members to answer questions and discuss the latest masking orders in the City of Milwaukee. Commissioner Johnson discussed the June 1 timeline around lifting all masking and COVID-19 related ordinances. She said that the ‘caseload’ in the City was dropping rapidly, and fit within the guidelines allowing the ordinance to expire. Read more information about the announcement HERE. She clarified that private businesses would be able to put in place, their own masking rules, but that the City would no longer be enforcing masking. By ending on June 1, companies and organizations will have time to communicate with employees and customers about the change in policy. When asked if there is a chance that ordinances would be put back in place, she said that they could be – if there were large and concerning spikes in the number of cases. She expects that there will be small spikes over the next few months – but those would not be reason enough for new ordinances. At this point, she asked that businesses and owners reach out to the City to set up vaccination sites, especially if they have access to the least-vaccinated population: 20-30 year olds. The contact is Nick Tomaro, Public Health Emergency Response Planning Coordinator at [email protected]
She shared resources and key indicator pages through the City of Milwaukee site HERE (scroll half way down for dashboard and key indicators). If you have other specific questions, please reach out the CARW offices at [email protected]