Saint-Paul, deputies. mandate masks for employees, recommend them for companies – Twin Cities

In a dramatic about-face, the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Tuesday announced new mask mandates for city employees, in addition to masking recommendations for businesses. The two said public health precautions, abandoned by the two cities in early June, have now been reinstated in response to the growing number of COVID infections locally and nationally.

From Wednesday, any visitor over 2 years old must wear a mask before entering the town hall or another building belonging to the town in either municipality.

Businesses are encouraged – but not required – to adopt universal masking requirements – that is, masks for all customers in interior areas, regardless of vaccination status. Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul and Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey said restaurants and bars should prepare for the likelihood of an employee becoming ill and take steps to prevent customers and co-workers from contracting the virus.

Hennepin and Ramsey County officials also demanded on Tuesday that all visitors and employees of county facilities must wear nose and mouth covers. the University of Minnesota, the system of colleges and universities in the state of Minnesota and a growing number of private employers have asked students or employees to do the same.

Mayors said they are following recommendations from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls for even fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates. or substantial.

On Friday, Minneapolis’ seven-day case rate landed in the “substantial” category, with 78.6 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people. Transmission rates in Ramsey County hit the “substantial” threshold last Thursday, like most of the metro between Goodhue and Isanti counties. Masks are now recommended in at least half of all counties in Minnesota.

Public health officials have called the delta variant of COVID the dominant new form of coronavirus, more transmissible than its predecessors and responsible for a growing number of “breakthrough” cases among those vaccinated. Symptoms of COVID in those vaccinated appear to be less severe, overall, but the virus is still transmissible to others.

In other words, even vaccinated people could pose a danger to unvaccinated people, including children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.

The delta variant could pose a particular challenge to communities of color. The CDC reported that nationally, COVID death rates among blacks, Native Americans and Latinos are at least twice as high as the white population, and hospitalization rates are about three times higher.

In addition to the new masking guidelines, Carter and Frey urged residents to get vaccinated, which is both free and now widely available in community clinics and other sites. Pharmacies such as CVS and Walmart have seen increased demand in some areas, but the lines are still generally short. The State of Minnesota provides links to vaccination sites at tinyurl.com/ete24scs.

“This pandemic is far from over,” Carter said in a written statement. “These measures will help us protect ourselves as we continue our work to get our entire community immunized. “

None of the mayors demanded that city workers be vaccinated, but the mayors said in a statement they were exploring the possibility.