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MINNESOTA -- Fourteen counties in Minnesota have COVID-19 infection rates high enough to trigger federal mask recommendations, and two of the counties border Brown County.
The CDC guidance is based on the seven-day rate of new infections. In counties with rates of 50 infections per 100,000 people or higher, masks are recommended among vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Brown County does not currently meet the threshold, but Redwood and Cottonwood counties have passed the threshold.
As of Tuesday, 14 Minnesota counties had infection rates high enough to meet the threshold. Other counties in addition to Cottonwood and Redwood include Waseca, Wilkins, Scott, Dodge, Isanti, Millie Lacs, Pope, Roseau, Traverse, Lake, Swift and Lake of the Woods.
Infection rates over seven days can vary and these counties may fall below the threshold next week, but other counties also rise above the masking threshold.
As a whole, Minnesota has one of the lowest rates of new infections in the country, but cases have been on the rise. The majority of new cases are from the Delta variant of COVID and are mostly seen in the unvaccinated population.
In Brown County over half the population, 61.5%, have completed the vaccine series. New cases are relatively low in the county with only eight new COVID cases reported in July. Cottonwood County has reported nine new COVID cases in July and Redwood County has reported 18.
At this time, it is unclear how these guidelines will impact the state, but many are asking if K-12 schools will be required to wear masks this fall.
At last week's New Ulm School board meeting, the district announced the school was scheduled to start without a mask requirement in the classroom, but Superintendent Jeff Bertrang said regulations could shift based on state mandates. The schools do not have a choice on whether to follow a state mandate.
A joint statement by the state department of health and education said "we will be using the updated CDC guidance to inform our state guidance, including our school guidance coming out in the near future."
The CDC's best practice recommendations for COVID-19 prevention in schools recommend:
• All people ages 12 years and older should get vaccinated for COVID-19 before returning to in-person school, sports, or other activities to protect themselves and people around them who cannot get vaccinated.
• All students, teachers, staff, and visitors in school buildings should wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status to protect those who cannot yet be vaccinated or who remain at higher risk because of immune-comprised status or other conditions.
• Schools should maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms whenever possible.
• Students, teachers and staff should stay home if they have signs of any infectious illness and should contact their health care provider for testing and care.
• Students, teachers, and staff who have been fully vaccinated do not need to stay home even if they have had recent close contact with a confirmed case so long as they remain asymptomatic and do not test positive. Follow CDC testing guidance for anyone exposed to a confirmed case.
• People who are not fully vaccinated and returning to in-person school, sports, or extracurricular activities (and their families) should get tested regularly for COVID-19 according to CDC guidance.
• Schools should continue to strengthen good ventilation, rapid and thorough contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, handwashing, respiratory etiquette, cleaning, and disinfection as important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
Currently, there is no mandate the schools follow this guidance, but it represents the most current science-based best practices for safe in-person learning, officials said.
"In-person learning is critical, not only when it comes to academics, but also for our students' social-emotional well-being and mental health," Minnesota Education Commissioner Dr. Heather Mueller said. "As we head back to school this fall, we must implement measures to protect the health and safety of all of our students, staff and families."
According to Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, the basic tools for fighting COVID-19 remain the same even as the virus itself has evolved into new variants that spread more easily from person to person and make containment more challenging.
"Vaccination, masking, and physical distancing remain our best public health prevention strategies for slowing the spread of COVID-19," Malcolm said. "The Delta variant is proving to have an alarming ability to spread more easily, so it's more important than ever that anyone eligible for vaccination gets that protection as soon as possible, and follow the CDC's guidance for continued masking, distancing and other prevention strategies to help avoid the widespread illnesses and community impacts we saw during the last school year."
Gov. Tim Walz withdrew the state's mask mandate for indoor public spaces on May 13 as COVID cases were on the decline, but Mayo Clinic is forecasting a rise in infection over the next two weeks.
With his emergency powers gone, Walz has no authority to issue a mask mandate, but he is urging Minnesota to get vaccinated.
"A year ago, the only vaccine we had against this was social distancing, closing businesses and masking. That is no longer true. We have the vaccine," Walz said. "All of the angst around what is going to happen, what are going to do with masking, all this, Let's just be very clear: We control our destiny 100%."
State-wide, 68.4% of Minnesota's 16 and older population has received at least one dose of the COVID vaccination.