WAUKESHA — Waukesha County is moving in the direction of ending additional COVID-19 requirements.
The Waukesha County Board of Supervisors is set to consider a proposal that, if passed, would end the county's state of emergency ordinance, originally put into effect in March of 2020. The ordinance gave the county more authority to control its response against the coronavirus pandemic.
The board is set to consider the proposal during a Tuesday, June 22 meeting. If passed, the emergency order would end on Wednesday, June 30.
Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow said in a statement Monday that he initiated the process of sending the proposal to the board of supervisors.
Farrow argues that the emergency powers are no longer needed with high vaccination rates and low confirmed COVID-19 cases.
“We were able to shift our priorities to emergency operations to mitigate the virus in our community. Now that our community is largely vaccinated and cases have trended downward for months, we can resume normal County operations," said Farrow in the statement.
Waukesha County continues to have one of the highest vaccination rates in southeastern Wisconsin, and maintains a relatively high rate in Wisconsin.
The Department of Health Services' COVID-19 dashboard shows just over 50 percent of county residents have received at least one dose, and almost 44 percent are fully vaccinated.
That's compared to 43 percent partially vaccinated, and 36 percent fully vaccinated, in Milwaukee County, according to DHS data. The mask mandate and other protocols remain in effect in Milwaukee.
Dane County meanwhile continues to lead Wisconsin in vaccinations, with the DHS reporting 63 percent partially vaccinated and 53 percent fully vaccinated. The mask mandate is still in effect there, but the county is expected to consider some kind of revision this week, the Wisconsin State Journal reportedlast week.