Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce tomorrow whether he will extend his current statewide stay at home order beyond Monday, May 4.

At a press conference in Worthington today, Governor Walz hinted that he will announce that more businesses will be allowed to reopen, but made it clear that trying to return to pre-stay at home conditions would be more similar to “turning a dial, not flipping a light switch.”

The stay at home Executive Order took effect March 27 and has been extended once. The primary purpose of the stay at home order was to slow the spread of COVID-19 and give health care providers more time to prepare for a potential spike in the number of cases that could potentially overload the system.

This week approximately 100,000 Minnesota were allowed to go back to work provided their employers had a social distancing plan in place and allow as many employees capable of working at home to do so.

As of today (April 29), Minnesota has 4,644 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (including 40 in Wright County) with 319 deaths attributed to the coronavirus.