MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above was first published on April 20, 2022.
More than seven weeks after Minneapolis dropped face mask requirements in city-managed buildings, face coverings are once again being recommended for indoor settings.
On April 28, the Minneapolis Health Department issued guidance "strongly" recommending that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wears a mask in indoor public settings and businesses.
The updated recommendations were prompted by a rise in city-wide COVID-19 cases. City health officials say the seven-day new case rate in Minneapolis increased by 340%, spiking from 51 COVID infections per 100,000 people to 227 per 100,000 since mid-March.
Hospitalizations are also trending upward, from 1.9 hospitalizations per 100,000 people to 4.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 people.
The higher case and hospitalizations rates put Minneapolis in the "high community transmission category."
Despite the Minneapolis numbers, CDC data indicates Hennepin County is still considered to be at a "low" community transmission rate level.
Two Minnesota counties, Olmsted and Wabasha, are back in the "high" transmission level as of April 28, the first time in several weeks any counties in the state reached the "high" level threshold.
Eight counties are currently in the "medium" transmission level, according to the CDC.
As of Feb. 24, 2022, Minneapolis no longer mandated face masks in public buildings or businesses. Effective April 18, Minneapolis Public Schools also lifted mask requirements for all schools, buildings and transportation.
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