COVID cancels Milwaukee NYE events
MILWAUKEE - As people get set to ring in 2022, health experts say you should strongly reconsider your plans. COVID concerns and illness have nixed some parties and concerts.
As holiday lights continue to shine in and around Milwaukee leading up to the new year, some high-flying, sold-out celebration plans are moving forward, but considering the situation on the ground with the coronavirus pandemic, with cases and hospitalizations rising, Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Joyce Sanchez says you should strongly consider a smaller, low-key affair.
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"I think right now, when it comes to the mixing and mingling of people and the degree in increase in cases, it’s going to be hard to do some of those things and feel very good about it," said Dr. Sanchez.
Bottle House 42's Back to the Future party was canceled due to safety concerns for guests and staff amid the rising COVID-19 cases. An evening with Wisconsin's own Horseshoes & Hand Grenades at the Pabst will have to wait until New Year's Eve 2022, canceled after a band member fell ill.
"I think New Year's Eve shows are special shows," said Gary Witt, Pabst Theater Group executive director. "Those aren’t normal shows."
Witt says they are more like extended parties, which is why he says it makes sense as other venues across the country consider the same concerns.
"This is really an important time to learn from the things that we’ve experienced in the pandemic and to be able to do the right things, and hopefully, one of those things we can do is act as a community," said Witt.
For Sanchez, that means getting vaccinated, boosted and thinking of how decisions now can affect the community days or weeks from now.
"It’s too late to protect yourself for the New Year's Eve party, but it’s not too late for what we all anticipate what may be a really bad January surge," said Sanchez.
Officials test for COVID-19.
Sanchez says if you do plan on carrying on with your plans or limiting to a smaller number of people outside your household, it's vital you and others take a rapid test a day or two before to ensure you're not ill.
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