JANESVILE, Wis. — Health officials in Rock County are extending their order requiring masks indoors across the county, but are removing the requirement that masks also be worn outdoors.
Instead, the county’s health department will just make a “recommendation” that masks are worn outdoors when unable to socially distance from other people not from the same household. The county also says people who are fully vaccinated will be exempt from mask requirements when gathering indoors with other fully vaccinated people, following CDC guidance.
Rock County will remain in Phase 2 of its reopening plan, but health officials say Phase 3 will allow a 75% capacity limit when the county gets to that point.
“Although some residents have had access to the vaccine for several months, many of our neighbors have just recently become eligible for the vaccine,” Rock County Health Officer Katrina Harwood said in a statement. “We want to ensure that people who have not yet had an opportunity to become fully vaccinated are able to do so before we make changes that could increase their risk of serious illness and death as a result of COVID-19.”
Health officials say they’ve seen an increase in COVID-19 spread in Rock County since the start of April, averaging 30 new cases per day this month. At least two variants of the virus have also been detected in the county.
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