Traveling this summer? Consider Wisconsin

After a year and a half of staying at home, summer vacation rentals, hotels, and campgrounds are surging to pre-pandemic levels. More and more restaurants are welcoming indoor diners again. Festivals, concerts, and some of our favorite summertime races are coming back to our community calendars. After a long winter, particularly long for having coped under pandemic conditions, summertime this year is a welcome respite in the state of Wisconsin. Vaccination rates and declining cases in Wisconsin are attracting many visitors in-state and out-of-state to spend their summer vacation in the land of many lakes, and activities: from spending a weekend at the “ocean-like” beaches of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coastline to experiencing new flavors and music during Madison and Milwaukee’s summertime festivals and local offerings.

At the time this article was written, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reported 49.3% of the state of Wisconsin received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 44.8% have been fully vaccinated. According to the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Wisconsin’s vaccination rates are just slightly below the US average. In Dane County, which is home to the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, the vaccination rate is even higher than the state’s, a little over 60% of the population with one dose administered. According to the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene’s recent Laboratory Surveillance Report (July 12, 2021), the state of Wisconsin’s number of confirmed, PCR-positive cases have dropped as low as March 26th of last year, the lowest rate of virus transmission since the beginning of the pandemic in Wisconsin. WSLH Proficiency Testing, which is a division of the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, is excited to share this good news with you. With this significant drop in confirmed cases, many residents in Wisconsin have been very excited in the reopening of the state’s recreational and tourism offerings this summer. We hope it inspires you to come visit the state we call home.

In the state’s capital city of Madison, visitors can enjoy reboots of some of their summertime favorites. ?Dane County Farmer’s Market has returned to downtown Madison on Saturdays at the Capitol Square; and people once again can enjoy sunset views of Lake Mendota over some ice cream or a few pints at UW-Madison’s Union Terrace. Weekly summer concerts are also now happening at parks around the city. Picnic with your people out on the great lawn or on the rooftop and enjoy live concerts Tuesday evenings at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. If you love stand-up, be sure to catch a national comedic act at Comedy on State, which has booked a wide variety of stand-up comedians during the summer and throughout the rest of 2021. Some festivals, like Art Fair on the Square (9/25-9/26) will be returning to in-person this year, but will be moved to late summer or early fall. Beyond Madison, other beloved summertime music festivals will take place later on in the fall, like Milwaukee’s SummerFest, happening between September 2 and September 18. If you happen to have any extra time to step away from the massive line-up of national, touring musicians and comedians, take a guided tour of Milwaukee’s many breweries and cheese shops on Old World Third Street.

If you love the great outdoors, Wisconsin’s many beautiful state parks have a lot to offer your spirit for adventure. Head to the western side of the state for cycling the Elroy-Sparta state trail, the first railroad to be converted to a bike trail in the United States. Cyclists can enjoy a fairly smooth, flat ride amidst narrow valleys and steep wooded bluffs, along with views of 3 historic, 140-year old train tunnels that many perennial visitors come to see along the trail. If you love hiking amongst spectacular waterfall views, go visit Big Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park in the northwest side of the state. Towering at 165 feet, Big Manitou Falls is the 4th tallest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains and just two feet shorter than Niagara Falls. While you are there, trek about 2 hours northeast (by car) to visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, an archipelago of 21 islands dotting the waters of Lake Superior, where people hike along the pristine shoreline and often kayak the sea caves of Meyers Beach in Bayfield, WI.

Longing for a beach vacation? Midwesterners need not travel far to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Relax on Racine’s North Beach and enjoy the crystal clear waters of Lake Michigan and lots of activities nearby including live music, good food, beach volleyball, and a cute, nautical-themed playground for the little ones. Its national accolades include Top 5 Best Freshwater Beach (USA Today), Top 10 Family Friendly Beach (Parents Magazine) and Top City Beach (Midwest Living Magazine).

With much of the United States opening back up, albeit with different levels of criteria and priorities, WSLH Proficiency Testing is grateful to see the number of daily cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin decline. At the time this article was written, the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus fell to the double digits mid-June 2021, with the state now seeing 74 new confirmed cases per day, according to Wisconsin DHS. State Lab of Hygiene is tracking new SARS-CoV-2 variants through the process of whole genomic sequencing. Since the start of the pandemic in March of last year, WSLH’s has been collecting samples from participating laboratories throughout Wisconsin as part of the state’s Laboratory Surveillance Network. As of June 2021, WSLH has identified 13 sequenced strains that have been found to be variants of the virus present in the state of Wisconsin, including the most recent Delta variant, which had reached to 35 cases in the state by mid-June 2021. As the CDC has lifted masking restrictions for vaccinated people, the CDC, by federal law, outlines that masking over the nose and mouth is required when using public modes of transportation. For unvaccinated people, the CDC offers guidelines for those who must travel and does not encourage travel for recreational purposes. If you decide to travel this summer or are starting to make plans for some time later, WSLH PT hopes you will consider some of many lovely vacationing spots that Wisconsin has to offer. Have a safe, fun summer!?