City of De Pere order retains Safer at Home guidelines until May 20

DE PERE - The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down a statewide Safer at Home Order yesterday, which was initially slated to run through May 26. However, due to various factors related to local public health, several counties and cities have signed orders to temporarily retain safer at home guidelines within their communities.

Among these are the Brown County Health and Human Services and the City of De Pere Health Department.

Due to a signed order from our De Pere Health Department, our community will continue to follow Emergency Orders #28, #34 and #36 until Wednesday, May 20.  

Wisconsin State Sec. 252.03 gives local health officers the ability to "promptly take all measures necessary to prevent, suppress and control communicable diseases."

Brown County has been dealing with numerous outbreaks of COVID-19 in recent weeks. As of May 13, Brown County had recorded 1,971 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 20 deaths.

Deborah Armbruster, City of De Pere Health Officer, along with Anna Destree, Public Health Officer for Brown County, both said in separately signed orders covering their local jurisdictions:

"This virus knows no boundaries, including county lines, and the most effective way to prevent, control and suppress COVID-19 is for State Officials and the State Legislature to work together and implement a statewide approach. That has not occurred, and therefore the below reasonable and necessary local actions must be taken pursuant to the authority vested in me per Wis. State. Secs. 252.03 and 252.25. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise given the high number of positive cases found in Brown County.”

De Pere Mayor James Boyd was supportive of these measures, and voiced appreciation for the patience the De Pere community has demonstrated during the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

“The De Pere Health Department and other local health officials have been tremendous throughout the entirety of this continually difficult situation, and we support their decision to continue local safeguards until May 20. Although it has been increasingly challenging for everyone, we appreciate the community’s unwavering patience throughout this process, and ask that you please graciously afford us this little bit of additional time to evaluate our options so we can collectively make the best decisions possible for everyone in the City of De Pere. I have been greatly encouraged by the vast amount of businesses that have contacted me, who have also voiced support and an equal desire to ‘get this right.’ That is our focus, and we appreciate the community’s unity in this pursuit.”  

Please note that free community-wide testing in Brown County is available. Visit www.stayhealthybc.com for more information.

To read the full order signed by the City of De Pere Health Officer retaining local restrictions until May 20, click here.

###