Minnesota Department of Health backs new CDC mask recommendation

(ABC 6 News) – It’s a month late, but tonight the United States just hit President Biden’s 70 percent vaccination goal. But this doesn’t mean that the Centers for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Health have stopped working to control the spread of COVID-19.

The Minnesota Department of Health still says the number 1 thing to do is get vaccinated – less than one percent of vaccinated people end up in the hospital. State health leaders also say they back the CDC’s new masking recommendations.

If you live in a county with substantial to high transmission rates you should wear a mask in indoor, public spaces – regardless of your vaccination status. Now the number of counties with those substantial or high rates has risen from just 14 in Minnesota to over 40.

Dodge County is one of the six high-spread counties in the state.

"Masking is not only about protecting you it’s about protecting everyone around you as well. In many parts of the country fewer than half of the eligible people are vaccinated. This makes masking just a smart preventative measure to reduce the risk for all of us and cut down on transmission," Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.

The department of health wants to stress that you are mostly safe if you’re vaccinated. The new mask recommendation is to keep unvaccinated people safe as well.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says the state will be joining Biden’s incentive program to encourage more people to get vaccinated. Minnesota now offers 100 dollars to each person who gets the COVID-19 vaccine.