Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. today (July 22) at which time he is expected to announce a statewide mandate to wear masks or face coverings at all “indoor places of public accommodation.”
The mask order is expected to begin either Friday (July 24) or Monday (July 27).
Over the last week, several large retailers and grocery chains with stores in Wright County have announced mask requirements, include Walmart, Target, Cub Foods, CVS and Coborns. Earlier this week, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport said it would require all people inside the airport to wear masks.
To date, 28 states and Washington D.C. have ordered mandatory face coverings. These are the states and the date the mask requirement began – Alabama (July 15), Arkansas (July 20), California (June 18), Colorado (July 17), Connecticut (April 20), Delaware (April 28), the District of Columbia (May 16), Hawaii (April 20), Illinois (May 1), Kansas (July 3), Kentucky (May 11), Louisiana (July 13), Maine (May 1), Maryland (April 18), Massachusetts (May 6), Michigan (June 18), Montana (July 16), Nevada (June 24), New Jersey (April 8), New Mexico (May 16), New York (April 17), North Carolina (June 26), Oregon (July 1), Pennsylvania (April 19), Rhode Island (May 8), Texas (July 3), Virginia (May 29), Washington (June 26) and West Virginia (July 6).
The Upper Midwest has been united in not requiring face coverings. None of the states that border Minnesota (Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) have a statewide mask mandate in place.
Walz is expected to outline the requirements of wearing a face covering at his press conference, which is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and will be carried live on local TV stations and multiple social media platforms.