Milwaukee just reinstituted a mask mandate. Here's what you should know.
The City of Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday approved a new mask mandate, and Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson signed it Thursday.
But it's not the same mask mandate that residents and businesses had grown accustomed to earlier in the pandemic.
This one comes with a likely end date — and a pared down enforcement mechanism that the city doesn't plan to use anyway.
"I think the key here, if you read the penalties and enforcement you will see that this is a non-mandate mandate because everything here is couched with the Health Department 'may' enforce this section," Ald. Robert Bauman said during Tuesday's council meeting.
Johnson described the legislation as putting into ordinance the city's mask advisory.
"There had already been a mask advisory in place. This essentially puts that mask advisory on paper," he said in a press briefing Tuesday.
In a statement Thursday, he said that businesses had endured "significant consequences from the pandemic" and raised the possibility that the council could lift the ordinance early if warranted.
Johnson and others have said while masking is important, the key to getting out of the pandemic is vaccination.
It comes amid a surge of cases and record hospitalizations in the state as the omicron variant of the virus spreads.
Here's what you need to know:
Who does Milwaukee's new mask ordinance apply to?
The ordinance applies to anyone at least 3 years old in a building that is open to the public.
Are there exemptions?
There are a number of them.
The measure exempts people in "settings where it is not practical or feasible to wear face coverings when obtaining or rendering goods or services to the extent necessary to obtain or render such goods or services."
That includes but is not limited to performers during rehearsals or performances, athletes taking part in athletic activities or "cleansing related to athletic activities," restaurant customers who are eating or drinking, and people receiving dental or medical treatments.
"No, the Milwaukee Bucks do not have to wear masks, nor the visiting teams, nor the Admirals, nor the Wave, nor anybody else engaged in athletic activities," Bauman said.
Also exempt are:
People who the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say should not wear masks for reasons such as a medical condition, mental health condition, developmental disability, or for whom an accommodation can be provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Those with chronic upper respiratory conditions, "silent or invisible disabilities" or who are communicating with someone who is deaf or has difficulty hearing where there are not other means of communication.
Circumstances in which face masks are prohibited by federal, state or local law, or where it is necessary to verify an individual's identity.
People who cannot wear face coverings due to their religious beliefs.
The new legislation also removes exemptions for people present in government buildings closed to the public, colleges and universities, public and private K-12 schools, and childcare and youth facilities with Health Department-approved mitigation strategies.
When does Milwaukee's mask mandate end?
The ordinance is in effect until March 1.
The Common Council meets that day and could vote to extend it, though there was also a brief reference Tuesday to the possibility of the council lifting it early.
How will it be enforced?
The legislation states that owners and operators of businesses open to the public must ensure that people present in their spaces comply with the mandate.
It uses the city's licensing process for businesses to enforce the mandate, though many businesses and organizations are not subject to city licensing requirements.
It allows the city's Health Department to submit written statements about violations to be added to a business owner's license renewal application. However, the Health Department is not required to do so, and that step may be taken only after a series of contacts with the business in response to complaints.
The legislation also ditches the fine of between $50 and $500 for businesses that violate the mask ordinance, part of the enforcement mechanism that was previously in place. It also gets rid of language allowing the health commissioner and city attorney to not only pursue license revocation but also a court order closing a building that is normally open to the public for failure to require people present to wear masks.
But a key point is that the Health Department doesn't plan to enforce the ordinance, and the acting mayor has said enforcement is not a priority.
Instead, Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson said Tuesday that her department hoped that businesses would ask their patrons to wear masks.
Why doesn't the Milwaukee Health Department plan to enforce it?
Johnson said her department does not have the staff to enforce a mandate as it focuses on COVID-19 testing and vaccination.
"At this time, we do not have the capacity to enforce it, and we're going to be collecting information as calls come in, but that is the most that we can do right now," the health commissioner said during the press briefing Tuesday.
The percent of fully vaccinated city residents at least 16 years old has plateaued around 60%, reaching 61.6%, according to a Tuesday update. About 67% of residents in that age group have received one dose of vaccine.
Of all city residents who have completed their initial vaccination series, including children, 39.2% have received a booster dose, according to the city.
What's the point?
The legislation is meant to be compliance-based, allowing businesses to put up signs putting the responsibility on government for requiring masks, said Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, who co-sponsored the legislation with Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa.
The goal, Dimitrijevic said, is to decrease indoor transmission.
"I hope that helps as we move forward, and I guarantee you if we can reduce transmission, we can get back to something that feels a little bit healthier and back to normal," she said. "We have to do all we can, and I see this as an endorsement of the work."
(Some also raised concerns about the effect of a mandate on Milwaukee businesses, including those that border other cities without mask requirements.)
How did this ordinance come about?
The new legislation alters an ordinance that was put in place in July 2020.
Under that ordinance, masks were required as long as a COVID-19 health order from the city's health commissioner was in effect.
The city chose to institute a mask mandate via ordinance approved by the Common Council and mayor instead of solely the commissioner's health order to withstand legal challenges.
The health order lifted June 1, 2021, as deaths and cases in Milwaukee fell and vaccinations ticked upward.
The pandemic then changed course, and city leaders were divided on how to move forward.
Dimitrijevic repeatedly called on the health commissioner to reinstate a health order to trigger a mask mandate.
Johnson, the health commissioner, resisted for reasons including challenges with enforcement, the city's proximity to other municipalities without mandates and her fears that a public health order could prompt state legislators to remove powers from public health officers like her.
She also argued a mask mandate should be implemented through action by the Common Council and the mayor.
Will be distributing more free N95 masks?
The acting mayor said by the end of the week the Health Department will have distributed 1.5 million N95 masks to the community through individual and school-based distribution.
The city recently distributed 1 million N95 masks to members of the public and has exhausted that supply from the state Department of Health Services, he said.
The department will no longer be providing the masks to the public at its three community testing and vaccination sites.
He said 300,000 N95 masks will be provided to Milwaukee Public Schools, 100,000 of which are children's masks.
An additional 120,000 will be provided to private schools.
The CDC on Friday updated its mask guidance to acknowledge cloth masks are not as protective as surgical masks or respirators.
The administration of President Joe Biden said Wednesday it would be shipping 400 million free non-surgical N95 face masks across the nation this week. They will be available at pharmacies, community health centers and other locations, according to the White House.
Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee mask mandate: What to know about end date, enforcement, N95s
