Today Governor Walz announced some disheartening news. All Minnesota schools will continue distance learning until the end of the school year. Governor Walz feels this is the best way for Minnesotans to stay safe during the global pandemic. More information on how distance learning will operate in the future will be released April 24, 2020. 

In addition to the news on schools, Governor Walz described his ideas of “safely adjusting the dials.” The dials give a visual representation of workplace and social situations that range from less predictable settings to highly predictable settings. Examples of less predictable settings include concerts, malls, and sporting venues. Highly predictable settings consist of distance learning and the Stay at Home Order. When speaking of highly predictable settings, he also reiterated the importance of social-distancing in this time of crisis. He wants people to continue to stay at home as much as possible and only make necessary trips.  As the total number of infected people increases everyday, it becomes progressively more important to continue social distancing habits. Just as the governor has feared, the number of lab confirmed cases continues to rise exponentially each day. 

Jan Malcolm then shared the statistics for the day. On April 23, 2020 there were 21 more deaths, making a total of 200 deaths statewide. There were 223 additional lab confirmed cases, raising the new total to 2942 statewide. As more research is done on the virus it has been found that most cases occur in congregate living situations. Large gatherings of people have been found to be less-predictable settings in the aspect of it being harder to track the virus. 

Governor Walz has been very careful of limiting less-predictable settings. He plans to start opening up more businesses statewide but they will need to include a preparedness plan and be closely monitored. The businesses that are allowed to open will be highly-predictable settings. All products will be updated with who handled them in order to keep minnesotans safe. More businesses will continue to be opened, but it will be at a slow pace. Walz’s largest concern is that if he opens everything up at once, cases of Covid-19 will spike and it will be too much for the hospitals to handle. 

Slowly, Minnesota will be taking steps forward, yet some of the most loved activities may not be opened for some time. Huge gatherings like concerts and sports stadiums will be closed until Covid-19 has significantly slowed down. Those gatherings are very high risk because the virus can spread very quickly. It is important that Minnesotans continue to be cautious during this pandemic so our loved ones can remain safe and healthy.