Minnesota governor to sign order lifting mask mandate following state’s updated guideline

Minnesota governor Tim Waltz announced a new pandemic milestone at a Thursday evening press conference that he would be signing an executive order Friday morning removing the state’s mask mandate.

The order would be signed keeping the updated guideline of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDS) in consideration, announced earlier Thursday which stated that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.

But the new state-sanctioned order isn’t applicable to everyone. Health care institutions such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, and long-term care facilities and their staff are still required to comply with the former order. It also doesn’t apply to correctional facilities or homeless shelters.

While the governor anticipates the positive reaction of the public towards the new move, saying “we’re still analyzing everything that came out of this announcement, it has been a challenge this year not to see folks smile … We’re excited about this, everyone isn’t on the same page.”

Post-Waltz’s press conference and CDC’s announcement, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said she has “mixed feelings” about the scenario.

“We appreciate the CDC’s updating of their guidance for fully vaccinated people, I think it’s just important that people understand what the guidance is. The CDC guidance remains and our MDH guidance will remain that people who are not vaccinated still are at risk”, Malcom said.