Forward Dane Phase 1 Observations and Feedback

Dear Neighbors,
On May 22nd, Public Health Madison and Dane County released emergency order #3 authorizing phase 1 of a re-opening plan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to phase 1, I signed on to a public letter expressing concerns and encouraging a dialogue. I was happy to see a detailed response from Public Health that addressed many of the points. As a results of the response letter, I requested a meeting with Janel Heinrich, director of Public Health to better understand the challenges of phase 1 re-opening and mitigation strategies going forward.

I am very happy that Director Heinrich took the time to have a detailed meeting and we covered a variety of topics including but not limited to: public health messaging of best practices for the community and business owners, Covid-19 concerns for Long Term Care Facilities, Contact Tracing staffing, guidance for sports and recreational clubs, etc.

Before I get into some of the details of our conversation, I want to commend the work being done by the Public Health staff. I particularly want to recognize their communications team who has worked to make detailed data available through dashboards, compelling social media posts with easy to understand graphics, and have worked to provide elected officials with information to disseminate in the community. They have been working around the clock for months and done great work. All of the staff at Public Health has been doing tremendous work as well in responding to an unprecedented fluid situation.

Here are some of the key points we discussed. I am not trained as a public health scientist or epidemiologist, but my goal is to try to present information in a concise and easy to understand format.

• Although we are in Phase 1, it should not give the community a false sense of security. We are still living under a pandemic threat. Businesses are open in a limited capacity and small gatherings are permitted with proper pre-cautions and social distancing. I would urge that neighbors exercise caution. If the metrics change, we will back off of phase 1. The re-opening is not a linear process and just because we enter a phase it does not mean that we will not go backwards.

• We are working together on better outreach with the community. I asked to prioritize communications with communities that are disproportionately affected by making materials available in different languages and focusing outreach efforts. It is important to go beyond just a digital strategy and use traditional communication like telephone hotlines and print media. I look forward to continuing to partner on this effort.

• There are currently 64 public staff working on contact tracing (36 directly working on contact tracing and 29 support staff). Public Health has 4 additional staff coming on board and they are the most staffed up of any health department in the state. Where possible, they are helping neighboring municipalities. Public Health is ready to adapt their staffing levels as the situation changes.

• As the summer approaches, we need to figure out a strategy for cooling centers that provide appropriate social distancing. In addition to indoor facilities, there should be ways for people to cool down outdoors. The virus is more easily transmitted indoors so we need to mindful of this and offer both indoor and outdoor cooling.

• We talked about testing in Long Term Care Facilities. Public Health is working with the state to facilitate more testing. Contact Tracing nurses are specifically assigned to these facilities and additional Infection Control Prevention Specialist are being recruited. My mom in a nurse in Rochester, NY where outbreaks have been particularly bad. She is tested twice a week for Covid-19 and the facilities are locked down to essential personnel who are temperature checked upon entry. I do lose a lot of sleep over this as my mom is in a vulnerable population but she is also an essential worker right now.

• Public Health has a detailed handout for protocol for sports and recreational teams. I worked with some constituents on this and is useful as we look to enjoy time outdoors in the summer.

• We also briefly touched on Madison Metropolitan Sewage District testing waste for viral loads to help point towards a breakout. There is some preliminary work on this but it will take a while to ramp up. I need to do some more research and outreach here to get more info.

• Big kudos the Marquette Neighborhood Association and Mayor Rhodes-Conway on rapidly creating the “Streatery” program to allow for expanded outdoor dining and place-making.

Here are some of my own observations:

Living in this new reality is going to require us as neighbors, civic leaders and community members to constantly do risk assessments. We will need to figure out which activities are essential versus which activities we can go without. I don’t want to lose the many special places in our neighborhood where we come together because they can no longer afford to stay in business.

By looping around my block, I can pick up a burger (Players, Alchemy, Harmony, Wilson’s, Mint Mark), get a great sound track (Mad City Music, Sugar Shack), some drinks to enjoy it with (Table Wine, Barley Pop, Jenny St) and a little something to satisfy my sweet tooth (Chocolate Shop, Gail Ambrosius, NutKrack). I can even take care of my little buddy Atwood (Bad Dog Frida) or begrudgingly my cat and world renowned troublemaker Pretzel (Mad Cat).

This is by no means an exhaustive list of places because our neighborhood has so much to offer. Most of this I can do curbside because the businesses have adapted so quickly. Each of these places have a carefully thought out business plan to re-open (or not) and do their best to do business safely.

However, whenever I leave my house I do a risk assessment and safety check. Do I have a mask if I need to go indoors or can’t socially distance? Is my behavior endangering vulnerable populations? If I touched a shared surface, can I make sure to not touch my face or eyes and wash my hands thoroughly or use a hand sanitizer in the mean time? I think we are all going to need to continue to do these safety checks and risk assessments until we get closer to a vaccine.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps clarify the situation we are in. I am going to keep prioritizing our Covid-19 response, working with my fellow elected officials and community leaders, and listening and learning. Please stay safe and let’s look out for each other. We are all in this together for the long haul.