Milwaukee's newest COVID-19 health order takes effect

City of Milwaukee Health Department

The Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) released on Friday, Feb. 5 an update on the public health and safety order "Moving Milwaukee Forward" related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The newest version -- Order 4.4 -- took effect Friday, easing on some restrictions for events. Venues can now host up to 250 if proper safety measures are taken.

The order features five total criteria: cases, testing, care, safety (PPE) and tracing. Each gating criteria can be assigned a status of GREEN, YELLOW or RED -- red being the most severe. 

Over the past week, the Milwaukee Health Department did not report any gating criteria changes but did report a decline in COVID-19 positivity -- which remained in the GREEN.

MHD reported an average of 7.1% positive based on an average of 2,315 tests per day. That is down from 8%, based on 2,536 tests per day the previous week. It is the tenth consecutive MHD report to show declining positivity, having reached as high as 19.1% in early November.

The care gating criteria remained GREEN, while the other three criteria remained in the YELLOW.

"The Milwaukee Health Department continues to adapt and respond to the changing dynamics of COVID-19 in our city. This week we have expanded our vaccination capabilities, modified our public health order, and dealt with challenging winter weather," Acting Commissioner Marlaina Jackson said. "We strongly encourage everyone to continue to do their part to crush COVID-19 by masking-up in public, maintaining distance from others, and avoiding group settings where the virus spreads."

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MHD will continue to monitor the situation and determine if additional protective measures are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19.   

The City of Milwaukee's key indicators for Moving Milwaukee Forward Safely have been updated as they are every Thursday and are available online at milwaukee.gov/coronavirus.

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More people will be allowed inside Milwaukee event spaces starting Friday, Feb. 5, when a new COVID-19 health order takes effect.