Washington-Ozaukee County officials lay out blueprint for reopening

 

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin's Badger Bounce Back plan laid out the guidelines for what can reopen and when, in three phases.

The Washington-Ozaukee County Health Department planned to release its own blueprint for reopening before the governor made the statewide announcement.

On Tuesday, county officials laid out their plan, which is mostly similar to the Badger plan. 

One note is full contact tracing for all COVID-19 positive people in the county within 24-48 hours.

That contact tracing will help dictate what businesses and places open in Washington and Ozaukee counties.

"We were thinking how difficult would it be to do contact tracing in these settingS, which actually dictates what our plan says," said Kirsten Johnson, Washington-Ozaukee public health officer. "So for example, if a small business or a bookshop were to open, how hard would it be for us if somebody went to that bookshop and was symptomatic or became symptomatic in two days, how difficult would it be to do the contact tracing."

Ozaukee County had to deal with a surge in cases and deaths recently.

Back in March, three residents died from a coronavirus outbreak at the Village Point Commons retirement community in Grafton.

At the time, the health department was monitoring cases at five additional long-term care facilities as well.