Governor Tim Walz is hesitant to issue a shelter-in-place order for Minnesota, arguing there may be a smarter way to combat COVID-19 than keeping everyone in their homes. Walz is banking that closures and social-distancing measures already in place will spread out COVID cases so hospitals are not overwhelmed, and asks Minnesotans to continue their efforts. The governor says, “There is going to be a certain percentage of people… whether you shelter-in-place or don’t, [who] are going to end up in the I-C-U. The thing that we’re striving for is to not let anybody show up at the hospital who needs an I-C-U or a ventilator [and] not be able to get one.”
Walz says his initial order closing schools and places of amusement was broader than most states’, and Minnesota’s results on controlling COVID-19 are looking different from other areas of the country.