CITY OF RACINE — The City of Racine's Common Council has extended the Safer Racine and the mask mandate orders until June of 2021, the Racine Journal Times reports.
This comes after the Council voted on Nov. 23 to impose stricter requirements in the COVID-19 ordinance. The Racine Health Department has continued to urge the Council to do more to stop the spread of the virus, especially during and on the heels of the holidays.
The revised Safer Racine order lowered the capacity in bars and restaurants to 25 percent and to 50 percent in retail businesses, as well as maxed out the number of people allowed at special events like places of worship and "mass gatherings" to 50 people, besides some exceptions. Indoor recreational facilities such as gyms and yoga studios were reduced to a capacity of 25 percent.
The revised COVID-19 order went into effect on Nov. 27.
The Council's decision Tuesday comes just a week after the Wisconsin Supreme Courtvoted to blocka different order issued by the city's health department that closed all schools from Nov. 27 through Jan. 15.
Racine Public Health Administrator, Dottie-Kay Bowersox, has previously stated that a strict coronavirus response will lower community spread and deaths in the community.
"The community must realize that inconveniences now, like wearing a mask properly and not participating in family gatherings outside of your immediate household, are necessary to protect public health and save lives long-term,” Bowersox wrote in a letter to the community in late November.
During the meeting Tuesday, Racine's Common Council also voted to extend Racine's Declaration of Emergency through June 30, according to the Journal Times.