City health officials are “strongly” encouraging Minneapolis residents to put their face masks back on, regardless of vaccination status.
The Minneapolis Health Department said in a Thursday news release that residents should “wear masks in indoor public settings and businesses,” citing an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The city said its seven-day new case rate has increased from 51 infections per 100,000 people in mid-March to 227 per 100,000. Hospitalizations have increased from 1.9 per 100,000 people to 4.8 per 100,000, which the city describes as “above the caution threshold.”
The city boasted about using “science to guide its public health strategies,” which have “saved lives.”
Minneapolis is located in Hennepin County, which the CDC reports is currently a low-risk county for COVID-19. This designation is based on infection and hospitalization numbers. Two counties, Olmsted and Wabasha, are now considered high risk, while eight are described as medium risk.
The bulk of the high-risk counties are in New York; none are in Florida.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey revoked his mask mandate in late February when cases were trending down. The 7-day new case rate at that time was 135 per 100,000 people.
According to a new CDC study released this week, more than half of American adults and 75% of kids have had COVID-19. In Minnesota, 60% of people have been infected, the study claims.
“To me, the high level of prevalence, especially among younger age groups, highlights the absolute futility of trying to suppress a contagious respiratory virus,” health care veteran Kevin Roche told Power Line.
“Prominent scientists warned us of this,” he continued. “When you think about what the efforts to suppress the virus cost us in so many ways, only to end up with most of the population infected anyway, it should really cause everyone to demand a complete overhaul of public health authorities.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
