MILWAUKEE — On Friday the City of Milwaukee will ease up COVID-19 restrictions, allowing indoor gatherings of up to 250 people as long as social distancing is taking place and masks are worn.
City Health officials said the decision was made after a careful review of COVID-19 trends in Milwaukee.
Restrictions on gatherings have impacted business throughout the city. Mark Reiss, the owner of Heritage Funeral, said it’s also had an impact on families who are grieving.
“The past year has been a very frustrating year because we can't give the families what they really want,” said Reiss.
He said they have had to limit the number of people inside their building, at times only allowing ten people in at a time. Their chairs are spaced out for social distancing, and Reiss said they haven’t had any issues with people wearing a mask. He said he has a waiting list of about 40 families who want to re-do their celebration of life ceremony once the virus is under control and restriction are lifted.
“They hope to someday in the next year to have something once again on a bigger scale and invite all their friends, because they were not able to do that,” said Reiss.
Reiss said although we are living in a time where we can’t give hugs or handshakes for comfort, the impact of a person showing up to pay their respects means the world to families going through a heartbreaking time.
“You can see on their faces how bright they get. People are so very grateful that they took the time out of their day or evening to come and pay their respects, and that just fills people up,” said Reiss.