MinnPost provides updates on coronavirus in Minnesota Sunday through Friday. The information is published following a press phone call with members of the Walz administration or after the release of daily COVID-19 figures by the Minnesota Department of Health.
Here are the latest updates from February 12, 2021:
- Walz rolls back limits on restaurants, wedding receptions
- 471,851 cases; 6,362 deaths
- Shakopee VA hosts walk-in clinic
Walz rolls back limits on restaurants, wedding receptions
Gov. Tim Walz on Friday issued a new executive order relaxing some of his limits on private gatherings, events and indoor dining. State officials said in a press release that Minnesota’s COVID-19 cases have been declining, leading them to ease some restrictions, but also said people should keep up physical distancing and avoid spread.
“While current trends are encouraging, the discovery of new COVID-19 variants means that we need to stay vigilant and cautious,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, in a prepared statement.
The following changes are effective beginning on Saturday at noon:
- Restaurants are still limited to 50 capacity percent for indoor service but can allow a maximum of 250 people instead of 150. They can also stay open until 11 p.m.
- Similarly, indoor entertainment still has a 25 percent indoor limit, but a maximum capacity of 250.
- Venues that host private events and celebrations such as wedding receptions now have a maximum limit of 50 people inside instead of 10 people from two households. The events also must close at 11 p.m.
- Gyms and pools have a 25 percent capacity limit but the maximum number of people allowed inside will be increased from 150 to 250. A requirement for 9 feet of distance between people and exercise machines is now 6 feet.
Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature said rolling back restrictions was the right move, but they also criticized Walz for continuing to make decisions unilaterally and without enough input from lawmakers. The GOP has tried to lift Walz’s emergency powers, which authorize him to take steps to restrict businesses, for months. But Democrats who control the Minnesota House have blocked the move. Republicans have also urged Walz to base his decisions off concrete benchmarks or metrics that allow businesses to plan better in advance.
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said in a statement that Walz’s changes give restaurant owners fewer than 48 hours to plan for Valentine’s day, which is one of the busiest days of the year, during an already tough economic time. “Continuing to go it alone with emergency powers and universal control over the dials is unwise,” Gazelka said. “It leaves Minnesotans without clear expectations for future changes affecting their livelihoods and ability to support their families.
471,851 cases; 6,362 deaths
Nineteen more Minnesotans have died of COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health said Friday, for a total of 6,362.
Of the people whose deaths were announced Friday, six were in their 90s, seven were in their 80s, three were in their 70s, two were in their 60s and one was in their 50s. Fifteen of the 19 people whose deaths announced Friday were residents of long-term care facilities.
MDH also said Friday there have been 471,851 total cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. That number is up 1,048 from the total announced on Thursday and is based on 43,554 new tests. The seven-day positive case average, which lags by a week, is 3.9 percent. That’s below a 5-percent threshold officials say is a concerning sign of disease spread, and also the lowest the rate has been since last summer.
The most recent vaccine data show 617,896 Minnesotans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which is roughly 11.1 percent of state residents. A total of 189,902 Minnesotas, or about 3.4 percent of the population, have gotten both doses to complete the vaccine series.
The most recent data available show 73 Minnesotans are hospitalized in intensive care with COVID-19, and 253 are in the hospital with COVID-19 not in intensive care. You can find more information about Minnesota’s current ICU usage and capacity here.
More information on cases can be found here.
Shakopee VA hosts walk-in clinic
The Minneapolis Veterans’ Affairs health care system says it has a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines for veterans 65 and older or who are frontline essential workers who can be served at a walk-in clinic in Shakopee this weekend. The clinic will be open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Today on MinnPost
- More Minnesota students are heading back to school. What does the science say about the safety of reopening?
- Officials say Minnesota’s ‘angel’ tax credit program is crucial for the state’s post-pandemic recovery. It’s also long failed to meet equity goals.
- Asking yourself how long it’s been since this all started? Us too.
- As always, a look at the numbers on the MinnPost COVID-19 dashboard.
Around the web
- Cuomo administration ‘froze’ over nursing home data requests, reports the Associated Press.
- The White House is tiptoeing around governors relaxing coronavirus rules, reports Politico.
MDH’s coronavirus website: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html
MDH’s phone line for COVID-19 questions, Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m: 651-297-1304
After what happened at his GOP victory celebration which directly led to the death of Jerry Relph I can’t believe that Gazelka is now complaining about restaurants being unable to prepare for Valentine’s Day. I personally think that Walz is making a big mistake in loosening restrictions. There were over 900 new cases yesterday and over 1,000 today. Please stay home or do carryout.
Why roll back these restrictions when they are working and reflecting lower numbers of cases and deaths. I wish they could have waited with these roll backs until more Minnesotans have been vaccinated.
Gazelka still values business profits over people’s lives and health.
But of course he can work (to the extent that he does any) from a comfortable home.
If he was really interested in business profits, he would have taken Covid seriously so we could have gotten ahead of it months ago.
Gazelka’s tombstone epitaph will appropriately read “Obstructionist”
The people who think everything should continue to be closed are those who get a paycheck for not having to go to work. Wisconsin is open and cases are the same. Florida is, and has always been 100% open and percentages are the same. I wish people would understand it doesn’t flipping matter what you do, it is what it is. If your health is compromised or your are scared stay home. Let the rest of the world open up. So glad I am in Florida. 100% open. I laughed today when the Biden admin said they wanted to shut down travel to and from Florida. They have no legal right to do that.
I. If you are scared, stay home.
The Dems like Walz want is to control your life. Stay out. And don’t make us pay for the other bad mistakes like paying for the rioting.
How would you even know? Florida has covered up Covid information and gone after people who have tried to tell the truth.
If you look at the actual data, it does make a difference. But data and facts don’t matter in the most backwards state in America.
Wisc. cases are NOT the same, they have significantly higher rates, just look at their curve. The last time Walz rolled back restriction, we caught up to Wisc. in about two weeks. You can expect the same to happen this time, specially with the introduction of the new variants.
One thing we can take some comfort in is the fact that death rates should stay lower because of the vaccinations of so many the most vulnerable people.
Very glib nonsense, given your Governor’s (virtually admitted) suppression of data, a practice which appears not limited to FL, unfortunately. The FL Dept of Tourism must be applauding your efforts!
But why do you think the Feds are making such statements, if FL’s Covid data is so encouraging? Instead of “laughing”, I’d be a touch concerned….and I wouldn’t so blithely dismiss the emergency powers of the president!
Best of luck to you down there, in any event.
Walz is NOT making this decision based on the epi, or the data, in fact, he’s ignoring a lot of advice. Walz is making a purely political and economic calculation. If cases explode (we must hope they don’t) he will own that result,and he’ll have to explain why he ignored so much data and advice. Be that as it may, Walz is the Gov so he makes these decisions.
What YOU need to know is that these scenarios in gyms, athletic contests, and restaurants are still higher risk and that hasn’t changed, and it won’t change until we approach herd immunity. These places may be opening, but that doesn’t mean they’ve become safe or safer, and the precautions they may (or may ignore) implement do not make them safer environments. You go to these places at your own risk, and you can’t say you haven’t been warned, so good luck.
The basic recommendations remain: Wear masks (double mask OR upgrade to KN95). Keep your distance, 6 feet in most circumstances 8-15 feet wherever masks are not being worn, or if people are strenuously exercising (i.e. huffing and puffing). Limit the time of your exposure to less than 15 minutes. Avoid scenarios where people are congregating, wherever people congregate, transmission will occur if they don’t take the precautions.
We can only hope the new variants don’t blow up our downward trends like they have elsewhere, so we’ll see. The good news is that the fatality rates will probably remain lower because of the higher vaccination rates among the most vulnerable. The problem we’ll see if cases start soring back with the new variants will be a return to a crises in our hospitals and health care. We have to hope this doesn’t happen, but as they say: “Hope is not a strategy”.
I will stay away from gyms, restaurants, and team sports until vaccinated regardless of the Governor’s “adjustments”.