Madison Reporter

Dane County residents are in their first week of having to mask up again following local health department guidelines issued Tuesday, July 27.

Public Health Madison & Dane County is "strongly" encouraging everyone to wear masks in public places, regardless of vaccination status, following new guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"The Delta variant is spreading quickly in our community, causing an increase in cases in Dane County," Public Health Madison & Dane County Director Janel Heinrich said in the news release announcing the latest guidelines. "This is why we are strongly advising that everyone ages 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in indoor public spaces, and at indoor private gatherings."

The COVID-19 Delta variant has become the dominant strain of the virus in Dane County, spreading most easily among the unvaccinated who have a harder time avoiding infection and serious illness. The seven-day average of daily confirmed new cases in Dane County is 31.4, an increase from 7.6 only a month ago, according to the guidelines.

"Because the Delta variant is spreading quickly and increasing cases in Dane County, we are strongly advising that everyone, regardless of vax status, wear a mask in indoor public spaces, and at indoor private gatherings," the county public health department said in a separate Twitter post on Tuesday, July 27.

The new guidelines were issued the day after Dane County hit a vaccine milestone with more than 382,000 people, about 70% of county residents, having had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine protection.

As of today, 382,535 or 70% of residents in Dane County have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the majority are fully vaccinated. The county public health department is also trying to make it easy for those few still unvaccinated Dane Countians to get their shots.

More than 500 days have passed since Dane County issued its first social distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic-related orders and guidelines in March of last year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that the fully vaccinated – especially those who are immunocompromised or they live with someone who is – where masks in public indoor settings or in areas of substantial or high transmission rates. The CDC also recommends "universal indoor masking" for all teachers, staff, students and school visitors, regardless of their vaccination status.

The fully vaccinated who find out they've been exposed to COVID-19 should be tested three to five days after exposure and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for about two weeks or until they receive a negative test result, according to the CDC.