MILWAUKEE — The City of Milwaukee’s Health Order placing limits on capacities at businesses and requiring masks, ends at midnight June 1.
The order had been put in place at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic and modified several times throughout the last year. After the CDC revised its guidelines, city officials announced in late May that the order would expire at the end of the month.
At Shaker’s Cigar Bar in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point, workers were busy taking down many of the signs referring to masks and social distancing.
Owner Bob Weiss says his business will continue to follow CDC guidelines, but adds the order ending is a sign the economy will continue to recover.
“People are going to have a certain sense of assurance that they can go back into public and they can re-enact part of what they’ve missed the last year and a quarter” said Weiss.
The new guidelines suggest fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask except in certain high-risk situations. But the city says many businesses may choose to enforce health guidelines moving forward, and asks residents to adhere to those requests.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services COVID-19 data dashboard, just shy of 39% of Milwaukee County residents are fully vaccinated, and nearly 46% have received their first dose.