Is the forthcoming discontinuation of Dane County’s face-covering order, set for expiration on March 1, happening too soon?
For those who have come down with pandemic fatigue, the question seems absurd because large segments of the public have lost patience with continuing mandates after dealing with COVID-19 for two long years, the efficacy of cloth masks is the subject of controversy, the omicron variant is fading, and COVID hospitalizations are down.
But who can predict the pattern of a pandemic that has featured multiple variants of varying levels of severity? For one prominent Madison retailer, who has employees and customers to think about when it comes to the in-store experience, it’s a question worth pondering. Some of Carol “Orange” Schroeder’s more vulnerable employees and shoppers might feel safer with the order in place.
Schroeder, co-owner of Orange Tree Imports, at 1721 Monroe St., believes more progress is needed before the order is suspended. “There is concern among business owners that the discontinuation of the face covering ordinance is premature because Dane County is still not at the moderate level,” she states. “Cases are falling, however, and we hope that status will be reached soon.”
Under Public Health Madison & Dane County’s dashboard, the levels of community transmission are defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A moderate level pertains to a weekly case rate of 10–49.99 per 100,000 people; a low transmission is defined as weekly case rate of 0–9.99 per 100,000; a substantial transmission is a weekly case rate of 50–99.99 per 100,000; and a high transmission rate is a weekly case rate of more than 100 per 100,000.
After issuing Face Covering Emergency Order No. 7, the current order in effect until March 1, PHMDC has signaled that because COVID metrics keep declining, it will not be extended past that date, as it has done several times since the delta variant emerged last summer, followed by the omicron variant late in 2021. The latter appears to be running its course, but at the time the most recent order was issued on Jan. 26, rates of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in Dane County remained very high, although they were starting to decrease.
At that time, the omicron variant had driven up the seven-day average of people testing positive to 1,258 per day, and there were 181 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 36 in the ICU with COVID. By Feb. 14, PHMDC announced that as of March 1, it would no longer require face coverings in public indoor spaces in light of steadily decreasing COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations. Cases had fallen to a seven-day average of 340 cases, less than 25% of peak levels, and they continued to decline. Hospitalizations were down substantially to a seven-day average of 110, which is 44% lower than the peak seven-day average of hospitalizations caused by omicron in January.
The current order mirrors the previous order and requires face coverings among people ages two and older when in most enclosed spaces open to the public where other people are present, with certain exceptions. Local retailers have met with PHMDC’s Justin Svingen, and the status of the order was the topic of a recent Zoom call with members of the Metropolitan Neighborhood Business Council of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
Schroeder says her staff will continue to be masked, something they have requested, and the store is thinking of requiring masks for customers until the county’s infection level reaches moderate status. She notes that the cessation of the mandate on March 1 leaves it up to the individual shop, entertainment venue, school, restaurant, or service business to set its own rules, which could result in confusion.
“The ensuing confusion is bound to lead to unfortunate confrontations with customers, students, and clients,” she states. “While this was somewhat true over the past months — the Department of Health was not able to control compliance at the consumer level — we anticipate that it will accelerate with an ‘all-clear’ being issued.”
In anticipation of this, Schroeder and other retailers have asked PHMDC to help get the word out that there will still be some mask requirements that will need to be followed in order to patronize the businesses posting them. “We can’t wait for the day when we don’t need to ask customers to wear masks to shop at Orange Tree Imports, but like other Monroe Street businesses, we have vulnerable employees,” she notes. “We have decided that staff will continue to be masked for the time being, and that we’ll require customers to wear masks until we reach the moderate status. Hopefully that won’t be long.”
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