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First case of COVID-19 in Madison
On February 5, the first person with COVID-19 entered the state of Wisconsin. The individual was arriving back to Madison from China and was transported straight to the UW Hospital. Following this event, the health department advised to self-quarantine fo 14 days. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by Creative Commons -
Public Health Madison and Dane Country close school and restrict gatherings
After another person in the Madison area tested positive, the university community began to take action. The public officials began restricting gatherings in order to ensure the safety of students and Dane County residents. In order to be as safe as possible, Public Health officials closes schools and group gatherings. A few days later, all schools closed indefinitely. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library -
Governor Tony Evers issues a "Safer At Home" order
After the amount of COVID-19 cases increased and more business and schools in the area had been shut down, the Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued a Safer At Home order. Safer At Home means that individuals need to stay at home, all non-essential business and operations to cease and prohibiting non-essential travel. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by Creative Commons -
Madison introduces the "Streatery" Restaurant program, expanding outdoor dining to sidewalks and streets
After months of being shut down, restaurants began asking for alternatives to take-out so that they can start to rebuild their businesses. In order to make some changes, the city decided to start a "Streatery Restaurant Relief Program" where restaurants could serve outdoor dining to customers on sidewalks and streets. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library -
Public Health Madison and Dane County issue an order requiring face coverings indoors
After allowing both dining inside and outdoor dining, Public Health Madison and Dane County issued an order that all individuals are required to wear face coverings. This order created a social media trend of #MaskUpMadison which included photos of Bucky Badger wearing a mask. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by Creative Commons -
Public Health Madison and Dane County had record-number of positive COVID cases in Dane County with 147 people testing positive
With students coming back to campus in late August, COVID-19 cases began to rise in numbers. With some in-person classes starting the last week of August, the first week of September, Madison had a record number of positive cases on September 6, with 147 people. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by Creative Commons -
University of Wisconsin-Madison converts to two weeks of online classes and 14-day quarantine for those living in Sellery and Witte residence halls
With cases rising since the start of classes in late August, the university decided that in order to decrease the positive case rate, freshman dorms Witte and Sellery were placed into a 14 quarantine as well as all in-person classes shifting to two weeks of online. Students were forced to stay inside those residents with barely any time outside during the day. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library -
UW-Madison students arrive back on campus with spring testing requirement of twice-a-week testing to enter buildings
With students arriving back on campus for the spring semester, the university wanted to get on top of testing. The university added multiple testing locations on campus as well as changing the testing style to a saliva based tested for quicker results. The testing requirement also increased to every 72 hours. https://www.channel3000.com/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-dane-county/, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library -
All educators, educational support staff, and child care workers are able to get the COVID-19 vaccination
With more in-person learning happening in Madison, vaccines are now eligible for educators, educational support staff and child care workers. Over time, students working directly with COVID-19 are also able to get vaccinated at this time. More information can be found on the university website. https://govstatus.egov.com/wi-covid-19, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library -
COVID-19 restaurant guidelines change from 25% to 50% capacity, indoor gatherings with food from 25 people to 150 people and indoor gathering without food from 50 to 350 people
As more of the Madison area gets vaccinations and the cases declines, restrictions are lowering. This is now the second restrictions decrease this month. These new guidelines allow for half capacity at restaurants, and outdoor gatherings to be up to 500 people. https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/dane-county-to-boost-numbers-for-restaurant-capacity-and-gatherings/article_4fa6a9e0-8993-5e6c-814f-40dc77a8160d.html, photo provided by UW-Madison photo library