Minnesota Schools Expected To Remain Closed For Rest Of The School Year

With the COVID-19 pandemic growing across Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz is expected to order that Minnesota schools need to remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Minnesota has nearly 900,000 students in K-12 public and charter schools, and was one of only a handful of states that had not yet ordered schools closed for the year.

The original date to reopen K-12 schools was Monday, May 4.  However, on Thursday Minnesota health officials announced 21 more people had died from the virus, the highest single day death count yet in the state.  That marks a third consecutive day with double digit deaths.

Under current circumstances, and to limit the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Walz is expected to announce he will keep kids out of classrooms.

According to StarTribune.com:

Epidemiological evidence shows that, while children can be infected with the novel coronavirus, they typically only experience mild symptoms. But children can spread the coronavirus to their parents or teachers, which triggered nationwide closures of schools in response to the pandemic in March.

With more COVID-19 testing capacity expected soon, the hope is that the state can start to get a clearer picture on just how widespread this virus is.