MADISON, Wis. — Madison and Dane County public health officials are urging people not to gather together as community spread in the area continues to intensify.

In a press conference on Thursday, Public Health Madison and Dane County director Janel Heinrich said that most of the spread in the area is coming from people having contact with people who live outside of their own household.

“We know people are having close contact with others, and that's what's driving our spread,” Heinrich said. “At least 1/3 of individuals who test positive for COVID have had close contact with someone who lived outside their household.”

Heinrich said that one-third figure is an underestimate because there are too many cases for contact tracers to follow up on.

The 14-day average cases per day in Dane County is now at 281.6, up from 217.6 per day a week ago.

Public heath officials urged people to stop gathering and reminded people that being closer than six feet to someone for more than 15 minutes in a day is enough for transmission of coronavirus. Heinrich said the chance of a gathering as small as 10 people having someone present with coronavirus is about 29 percent.

Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive, said there are 144 hospitalization in Dane County and called on people to make an effort to stop the spread of the disease.

“Covid's greatest test has come at a moment when we are all tired and frustrated, but it's imperative we rally,” Parisi said in a statement. “Now more than ever we have to come together and make choices that reduce not only the risk to us and our families but also to the nurses and doctors who are working around the clock to care for those who are sick. Our health care workers are going to wear down if this is their everyday experience for the next several months.”

PHMDC said they are seeing clusters of cases tied to workplaces, and ask employers to remain vigilant in public health guidelines.

There were at least 13 violations of public health orders at residences near UW-Madison's campus on Halloween. That included one instance where there were 91 people in one apartment.