Gov. Tim Walz officially dropped the state’s mask mandate today, and several cities in Minnesota followed suit. But health officials say the pandemic isn’t over yet.

Bemidji City Manager Nate Mathews tells Lakeland News that the city’s mask order ended today when Minnesota’s mask order did. Duluth and St. Cloud also dropped their city mask orders, but mandates are still in place in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Businesses can still chose to enforce their own mask mandates if they want.

Despite dropping the state’s mask mandate, Minnesota health officials are stressing today that the pandemic is far from over and say that people who are not vaccinated should do so. 61% of the state’s population 16 years of age or older has now been vaccinated with at least one dose. The goal is to vaccinated at least 70% of that population.

By — Lakeland News