As Some Businesses Reopen, Schools Remain Closed
Gov. Tim Walz is allowing more businesses to reopen at the end of April, as he did with golf courses recently. As many as 20,000 businesses employing up to 100,000 people can begin to return to work as long as they have a specific coronavirus plan.
However, kids hopeful to return to school will have to manage their studies through distance learning for the rest of the school year. In announcing another executive order, Walz admitted that “there is no joy in this.”
“My heart is really heavy with this announcement. We know the impact this is having, how badly students want to connect with their friends and classmates,” added Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker.
Republicans generally agreed with the school announcement. “I think it's probably the right decision to allow students to be distance learning until the end of the school year. But at some point, we do need to make sure that we get our economy back open again," said House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt.
But Employment & Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove still wants people to work from home as much as possible, stating that every business has to create a plan that meets CDC standards and that all employers will have to do health checks.
Ultimately, as COVID-19 deaths and diagnoses continue to climb in the state, Gov. Walz encourages Minnesotans to think of a return to normal life as a dial that will be turned up or down, depending on the circumstances, and not as a switch that is suddenly flipped on.
Editor’s Note: As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds in Minnesota, certain details in our stories about the impact of the virus may become outdated within hours, days or weeks of our publication. For the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in Minnesota, please visit the websites for the Office of Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan or the Minnesota Department of Health.
Almanac reporter Mary Lahammer recently explored one of Minnesota's hotspots for the coronavirus: nursing homes. At the time of her reporting, one care facility - Presbyterian Homes' Johanna Shores - had received the all-clear in COVOD-19 cases among residents and staff. Get an inside look at how they're moving forward in an uncertain time.
In the time of the coronavirus, Minnesota’s arts educators have gotten creative in their approaches to keeping students inspired and motivated to continue pursuing even the most social of artistic genres. Find out how they’re leveraging digital technologies to keep students drawing, dancing, singing and performing.
The closures of schools across the state has also provided an opportunity for intergenerations connection between kids and their grandparents, who can relieve parents trying to juggle working, teaching and parenting from home.
