With COVID-19 cases starting to spike due to the Delta variant right before the start of the Minnesota State Fair, school officials deciding whether to use mask mandates and the removal of troops in Afghanistan, a lot is set to change in Minnesota.
Governor Tim Walz talked with News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman about these changes after he visited the State Fair this morning.
"I think many folks out there felt a sense of gratitude," he said. "A lot of smiles."
Walz shared that he saw several people socially distancing and carrying masks and putting them on when going inside buildings, being respectful of others.
When it comes to the restrictions and requirements, the Minnesota State Fair decided not to require masks, vaccinations, or negative COVID-19 tests to enter.
"We're not always gonna get it right, but they're trying," Walz said.
Walz shared that while the decision was tough, he wishes fair officials would have put some requirement for negative COVID-19 tests or vaccination requirements.
"I know as well as anybody in the state how tough these decisions are," Walz said. "I think I wish they would have gone with that because I think most Minnesotans understand that those are reasonable requests that are not infringing upon your freedoms."
The state has started to see a resurgence in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant in past weeks, and while numbers start to reach the levels they were at last year, Walz doesn't think that a return of emergency powers will help; instead, he thinks it's on the public to do what is right.
"I get it that this thing became polarized to the point where if I say it's Thursday, someone says it's Friday," he said. "I still have people complaining to me that I'm using my emergency powers too heavily now, and they haven't existed for months."
What he does want are Republican legislators to work with him and encourage the public to wear masks and get vaccinated.
"If I could get folks to say, 'you know this is serious, but we can manage it, go out and help,'" Walz said. "So I really need some legislators, I need some Republican legislators especially in the state to encourage people to do these simple, precautionary things that allow us to then manage this endemic, keep the most vulnerable safe, and still do the things we want to do."
When it comes to schools reopening and what mandates should be in place, Walz thinks schools should follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health and Center for Disease Control.
"These students need to be masked; if they are 12 and over, they need to be vaccinated, and we need to make sure that we are testing so that we can quickly isolate."
Walz shared that he talked with the governor of Kentucky, who shared that one school tested on the first day, and 700 students tested positive for the virus. Because of this and other factors, Walz wants school officials to take the upcoming school year and students' health seriously.
"I really encourage them to follow that guidance, it's really clear, and it works," Walz said. "And again, vaccines and masks are the biggest things."
Walz also talked briefly about the war in Afghanistan and the removal of U.S. troops; last week, he wrote a letter to the president saying that the state would take refugees from the war-torn countries if needed.
Walz thinks many Americans may have forgotten that we were in Afghanistan if they did not have family there. He went on to say that America has been on "autopilot" in the war without a clear message on what we were doing there.
"We need to make sure that the military, our allies, the commander in chief, and the governors are communicating clearly that this mission has been brought with peril from the beginning," he said.
