The Minnesota Nurses Association says Governor Tim Walz should not allow elective surgeries to resume in Minnesota because inadequate supplies of N-95 masks are forcing front-line medical workers to re-use them when they shouldn’t be. Nurses Association spokesman Rick Fuentes says, “Let’s make sure that before we’re liberalizing these policies that we are taking all the precautions, that we have all the necessary equipment that we need.”
The governor responds, “We think that with the decisions that have been made, the social distancing Minnesotans have done, (and) our good handle on what the inventory is, that we’re able to do this.” Walz says they’re asking individual health care providers to monitor their stock of personal protective equipment very closely.