|
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I want to wish all the great mothers, starting with my wonderful wife, Kim, a great weekend and a joyous day!
With the various restrictions being lifted, more on that below, Mother's Day this year should kick off a great summer that returns us back to normal. Have a great weekend!
Lifting of Restrictions
On Thursday, Governor Walz announced a three phase reopening plan to lift all COVID-19 restrictions on Minnesotans. This is great news for Minnesotans as we will be joining dozens of other states making similar changes.
Vaccination rates, falling hospital and death rates mean the threat to overrun our health system has passed. The reopening plan should have came early, but this is still welcome news.
The three phases are as follows:
May 7
Step one takes place at noon on May 7. It includes initial steps to relax some restrictions, primarily in outdoor settings.
• Removes limits for outdoor dining, events, and other get-togethers, and ends the mask requirement outdoors except at large venues with over 500 people.
• Eliminates the state-established mandatory closing time for bars, restaurants, and food and beverage service at other places of public accommodation.
May 28
The second step begins on May 28. The remaining capacity and distancing limits will come to an end, including indoor events and gatherings. The requirements that will remain include:
• Face coverings indoors and for outdoor events that exceed 500 people.
• There will be no new safety requirements for businesses, though they must maintain their plans to keep their employees and customers safe – as they have from the beginning of the pandemic – guided only by a minimal universal state guidance document.
July 1
The third step takes place once 70 percent of Minnesotans age 16 years and older – 3,087,404 Minnesotans – get at least one dose of the vaccine, but no later than July 1.
• The remaining face-covering requirement and the requirement for preparedness plans will end. Work on vaccines will continue, and local jurisdictions and entities may set their own mask policies.
This plan means Governor Walz himself is admitting the emergency phase of the fight against COVID-19 is over, yet he continues to keep his emergency powers in place with no stated plan to give them up. This is not the way to govern, our system works best when the voices of all Minnesotans are able to be heard through their representatives. The checks and balances designed in our system have been missing for over a year and it's time to get back to normal governance.
|
