PLYMOUTH, Minnesota — Gov. Tim Walz said he will announce the loosening of some statewide COVID-19 restrictions Friday morning.
During a press conference for his summer education package Thursday, Walz said he will be announcing "probably our biggest (dial) turn" due to lower case numbers and increasing vaccine availability across the state.
"We're at a point where we have not been since (the pandemic) started," said Gov. Walz while at a press conference at Armstrong High School.
"It will start to give guidance on larger gatherings, starting as early as April, and then we will continue over the next few weeks (to provide guidance), because I think the next three or four weeks will determine how this pandemic ends."
Gov. Walz didn't get into specifics about what kind of mitigation actions will be taken, but did say that he envisions proms and graduation ceremonies in May and June will look "pretty close to normal."
He'll give a statewide address Friday at 11:00 a.m., and then take questions form the media at a news conference at 12:00 p.m.
More than 25,000 people received doses of vaccine both Monday and Tuesday, pushing the total of Minnesotans age 65 and older who have received at least one shot to 602,866, or 70% of that age demographic. As of Tuesday, 1,129,967 people of all ages have received at least one dose, 20.3% of Minnesota's population of 5.6 million.
While, new COVID daily cases climbed above the 1,000 mark on Thursday with 1,096 reported in the last day, Gov. Walz said he believes the state is in a good enough position for another dial turn, and added that additional dial turns could start occurring at a quicker rate.
"As long as folks keep staying disciplined around the masking, disciplined around the social distancing, we're pretty good," Gov. Walz said.