Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will hold a press conference on Thursday at 11am where he will discuss the rollback on COVID-19 restrictions. It has been a year since restrictions were initially put in place with Executive Order 20-01. A peacetime emergency was put in place, and it had been subsequently extended every 30 days. Now a lot of those restrictions are being loosened as Minnesota has ramped up vaccination efforts and COVID-19 cases have been trending downward. As of the Governor's Press release, 20% of Minnesotans have been vaccinated and 70% of people 65 and older have received the vaccine.

Social distancing requirements and mask wearing is still required in Minnesota, but capacities for events, bars, restaurants, gyms, worship services, concerts, and others have been increased.

Beginning Monday bars & restaurants will be able to operate at 75% of their indoor capacities. People will also be allowed to sit at the bar in groups of 4. The occupancy limit has been removed for salons and barbers, as long as social distancing is used. Gyms will now be able to operate at 50%. Religious services capacities have been removed, but social distancing is still required.

On April 1, seated indoor events that include concerts will allow to increase 15% of their capacity over 500 and not to exceed 3,000 people. Unseated indoor concerts will allow for 10% increase in capacity and not to exceed 1500 people.

The Minnesota Twins will be permitted to have 10,000 fans at their home opener at Target Field on April 8.

B105 logo
Get our free mobile app

Also worth noting is that public pools may open beginning March 31 as long as they do not exceed 50 percent capacity for indoor pools. Outdoor pool areas may exceed 250 people as long as it is in accordance with Stay Safe Minnesota percentage limitations. Outdoor pool areas cannot exceed 10,000 people.

The limit for indoor social gatherings is now set at 15 people. Health officials still encourage no unnecessary travel especially outside of the region. They also do encourage those who can work remotely to continue to do so, but will permit in-person work again.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

More From B105