The center, which serves about 600 senior citizens a month, was closed from March 2020 until April 2021 because of public health hazards stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.

Operations resumed for 8 months after that, but officials are closing the facility again because of a resurgent pandemic in the face of anti-vaccination backlash.

“We can’t take chances,” executive director Patricia McNamee Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg said the center has not reopened since the Christmas holidays, and she has decided to remain closed until Feb. 28 to prevent the contagious virus from infecting patrons and visitors.

There has not been an outbreak within the center, Rosenberg said. But seeing a rise in infections elsewhere in the area has persuaded her to shut down temporarily.

“It is very sad,” she said.

Located at 587 E. State St., the nonprofit center can accommodate about 75 people, and it draws seniors from as far away as Kenosha and Lake Geneva.

Men and women ages 50 and older gather there for card games, yoga classes, musical performances and other activities.

Rosenberg said she hopes to resume activities on Feb. 28.

ProHealth Care takes tougher measures

Indoor policies at some area health care facilities are getting stricter.

Waukesha-based ProHealth Care, which has a clinic in Waterford and dozens of other locations throughout southeast Wisconsin, announced Friday that it was tightening its mask requirements.

Effective Friday, cloth masks were no longer considered good enough to comply with the health care system’s mask requirement. ProHealth is requiring surgical masks, N95 masks or KN95 masks to be worn by those entering its facilities.

“These masks are more effective than cloth face coverings in preventing the spread of the virus,” a ProHealth release said.

The estimated time it takes to transmit COVID-19 from one person who is infected to one person who isn’t is:

• About 15 minutes if neither are masked,
• About 27 minutes if both are wearing cloth masks,
• 2.5 hours if only one is wearing an N95 mask, and
• 25 hours if both are wearing N95 masks, according to a report based on federal research published by the Wall Street Journal.

ProHealth said it would provide surgical masks to “anyone who needs one.”

As at Advocate Aurora and many other health systems, no visitors are allowed to visit adult patients at ProHealth facilities, with limited exceptions, such as for end-of-life situations.

Getting vaccinated continues to be encouraged as the best way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and bring about an end to the pandemic.

To find a place to get vaccinated near you, go to