Eau Claire City-County Health Department releases community expectations

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - With cases of COVID-19 in the Chippewa Valley and across the Badger State on the rise, the Eau Claire City-County Health Department is taking a new approach.

A new Eau Claire County Health Department measure went into effect Thursday, which outlines... — A new Eau Claire County Health Department measure went into effect Thursday, which outlines community expectations to slow the spread of COVID-19.(weau)

According to director Lieske Giese, the new document aims to spread the responsibility to the community.

“We did today release a new document, the community expectations document,” Giese says. “It really takes what we previously had in our local public health order and really lays out public health expectations that are very much in alignment with that order.”

The new community expectation document is essentially the same language as the previous local orders, with a major exception. It takes away the citation enforcement listed under the previous local orders.

“We really have made the decision to shift from what was an order with citation authority and authority to really move forward with some level of enforcement to a document that is really putting the power of control on all of us,” she says.

To date, Giese says more than 2,500 Eau Claire County residents have tested positive for COVID-19. She says as we learn more about the disease, the expectation document will change, but her hope is that the new measure will encourage people to take all the necessary steps to help slow the spread.

“Not to close down the community, that has never been apart of our orders or our expectations, but to to find every possible way to do what we want to do, but doing it more safely,” Giese says.

To read the full order, click here.