Governor Tim Walz continues defending his decision to keep stay-at-home and other restrictions in place, as critics call for him to re-open Minnesota’s economy and a major pork processing plant in Worthington remains shut down amid a COVID outbreak. He says, “If opening up the business were safe, we would do it tomorrow. That did no good at Smithfield [in Sioux Falls, SD]. It will do no good at JBS [in Worthington], and there are numerous others on this.”
The governor says “we can’t just open up without safeguards in place.” Walz says there must be adequate COVID testing and personal protective equipment, plus enough bed capacity so hospitals aren’t overwhelmed.
Critics say the governor must be more aggressive in re-opening segments of Minnesota’s economy with proper social distancing and other precautions. Hundreds of thousands are unemployed in Minnesota.