Minnesota Governor Tim Walz COVID-19 Press Conference Transcript March 12

Tim Walz: (00:24) Good morning Minnesotans. On this sunny, early, spring day in Minnesota, it's a pleasure to be back with you again. I want to take some time today, along with Commissioner Malcolm and Commissioner Grove, to talk about the next step as we win this battle against COVID-19 and move towards that normalcy that all of us crave so much. So thank you for taking a few minutes with us this morning. We're going to talk you through kind of where we're at in this process, the things that'll be changing in terms of mitigating against COVID-19, let you know where we're at on that vaccine progress, and give you some dates a little further out where you can start to plan those things that are so important, whether they be weddings, family gatherings, or as you heard President Biden talk about July 4th with barbecues and fireworks with your neighbors and friends and it's something we've been all wishing for for a long time. Tim Walz: (01:19) I think it's important, Minnesota, that it's a year ago today that we declared a state of emergency. As we were staring down the largest and the most threatening public health crisis that our nation had seen in a century. So many unknowns around what was this new virus? What was it going to do? We were gathering information daily. One thing we knew was that it was spreading rapidly across the globe. Tim Walz: (01:46) And so, as I addressed you at the state of the state address in March of last year, I mentioned that, and I've spoken to many times and it's not always been news you wanted to hear, but it's news you needed to hear. And I said, it was going to be a long dark winter. And I said, and it broke my heart then. And it breaks my heart now that tens of thousands of our neighbors were going to be hospitalized and potentially thousands would not be here when we got to the end. And that has proven to be true. But the things that you have done and the things that we have followed following science guidance, listening to our healthcare professionals and asking Minnesotans to do what I knew on that night last year when I said, "We were a people of deep resiliency and grit, and we understood what winners look like." Tim Walz: (02:37) This pandemic has changed us, but there's so many ways it's changed us for the positive too. It makes us understand how precious our time with family is, how precious community is and for one thing, it lets us know that our actions impact those around us greatly. We made progress, Minnesota. Those hard decisions that have been painful, those missed family gatherings, those businesses that were asked to close to protect health, it's made a difference. Minnesota ranks near the bottom in deaths per a hundred thousand. We ranked near the bottom in infections per a hundred thousand. We ranked near the top second earlier this week in terms of getting the vaccinations out. And when folks are looking at the resiliency of our children and our families and our economy, Minnesota ranks near the top. That's because of each of you. That's because you chose to dig into that resiliency and grit, and you decided to follow the science and do the things that needed to be done, and because of that, this is what's happening. Tim Walz: (03:33) 90% of our students are already back in some form of in-person learning and every single day more are coming back and that sense of normalcy in that building around our young people who we are so grateful for and how we focus on them is starting to happen. I was out in Armstrong High School yesterday, and the class president out there was talking about just the sense of thrill to end her senior year with her friends and the thoughts of proms and graduations, and just the times in the hallways to chat. This is a young woman that now has committed to going to medical school, to make a difference of what she's seen. This has happening all across our country, that these young people are going to respond exactly like you saw out in Armstrong. Tim Walz: (04:14) 94% of long-term care facilities are open for visitors. More Minnesotans are back at work and customers are returning. We've seen some of the results of your hard work and your resiliency. The Minnesota financial situation is in much better shape than many predicted that's because of again, that willingness to do what was right to not only protect our health, but to protect our economy. And I said on all the times that you've allowed me to speak with you and come into your home, and they have many times been tough conversations of talking about how deep and dark that winter has been and how we had to dial back because there was a surge coming. And if we didn't, I stood up here with healthcare professionals who said we would overwhelm our system. And then in December, I asked you for a goal line stand that we were taking the brunt of it. At one point in time, the upper Midwest had the highest infection rates on the entire planet. You did it. Tim Walz: (05:05) And then we took the ball back in January, and I'm just going to say it today. We're beating this thing. We are going to win. And this is maybe not today the end, but it's darn sure the beginning of the end. And there's some things that we can do to make that happen. 1.2 Minnesotans have already received a shot. 72% of our seniors have been vaccinated and Minnesota is more and more about 1.8 million of you. And as you heard, president Biden say last night, everybody needs to be in the line by May 1st. The good news is you'll be in line before that in Minnesota. 40,000 shots a day. And as I said, when the center for disease control ranks, the States, Minnesota is consistently been in the top 10 and this week we were second in terms of getting those out. And this is a big deal. Tim Walz: (05:47) This is a race against this virus. And I respect this virus's tenacity. I don't underestimate what it can do to us. And these variants that are out there, and you'll hear from commissioner Malcolm pose a risk, but we can control what happens to them. We can control it with the speed of the vaccine as we get it out, and we can control it with our behaviors, continuing to mask up and continuing to social distance, wash our hands and use the free testing sites that are across the state just to make sure. And if you end up testing positive, you know for certain, you're going to have the care that you need. Should you, God forbid, need a hospitalization. They're there and the therapeutics are better than they've ever been. These are the things that are in our favor now. We're dictating how things go. As long as we can stay in this place, we're going to beat this thing and it's going to be weeks. It's going to be weeks. And every single week that goes by, you're going to see progress. Tim Walz: (06:42) So the impact of their social activities are coming back. Teachers, as we said, are in the classrooms, grandparents are hugging their children. My mom finished this week and is talking to my children, her grandchildren, about when she can come visit. Those are things that were almost unimaginable a year ago. We didn't have a vaccine. We didn't understand what this was going to do. We had no therapeutics and we were grossly unprepared in testing and PPE. All of those things have changed. Tim Walz: (07:10) That eligibility, as we said, continues to go. I'm going to use this as a time now to tell you, it's going to be weeks not months before all of you are going to get the opportunity to get a shot. Please take it. Please roll up your sleeve and take these shots. They have been tested. The science behind them is solid. There are three different, highly effective ones out there. This week, as many of you know, Commissioner Malcolm received the Janssen vaccine manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, a one-shot vaccine and she's not stopped smiling since the other day. That's what each of you know. Tim Walz: (07:39) Those of you who are listening right now know what this shot means. Let's keep doing what's right Minnesota. For the rest of us who are waiting in line can get there safely and get our vaccine and then get on to why you probably came today to see what we're going to do. This return to normalcy, the sense of it, and you heard me say it, the thought of sitting, watching a baseball game, a little league game or a twins game makes no difference. Just the idea of being- Tim Walz: (08:03) Ball game, a little league game or a Twins game, makes no difference. Just the idea of being near family, near friends, being outdoors in Minnesota, thinking about planning those weddings and those family events, or thinking about the things that so many of you both from just a mental health perspective, but an economic perspective, walking down to your local restaurant and making sure we keep those folks in business. Those things are going to happen. Cases are down, hospitalizations down, deaths are down. I will mention the variants, again not to sew fear but to be realistic about what we're up against. We can't pretend, again, we were told by some early in this that it was the flu. This is not the flu. This is not the flu. It has killed over half a million Americans, but the good news is we can control that now. We have a lot to say over it in how it spreads. Even with these variants Minnesota Department of Health, along with partnership with University of Minnesota, we are sequencing the genomes of these variants so that we're seeing them quicker and we can use precision pinpointing to maybe close down smaller areas, counties or one particular place of where it's spreading instead of having it out of control throughout the community. That's why testing is still so very important. Tim Walz: (09:12) The adjustments we're going to make are going to move that thing back towards normal a little bit. It's not over, we're not turning to 11, for all of you out there. We're turning the dial up though to a point where normalcy is on the horizon. And if this continues and we'll know over the next three or four weeks what the variants are going to do, we will continue to turn that dial because at that point in time, we'll know that we've got the upper hand, we're going to keep the upper hand and this thing's coming to an end. So most of the changes you're going to hear about and Commissioner Grove will go into some greater detail, will happen on a Monday at 12:00 PM. Tim Walz: (09:50) So on social gatherings gather with 50 folks as long as you're outside, indoor gatherings are 15 people. And the difference here is the household limits, I've got three wonderful brother- in-laws that I only get to see a little bit at a time in outdoor settings over the last year, we usually celebrate holidays and things together we're going to get that ability now. Wedding ceremonies, there's no percentage on capacities, just the social distancing. This is a big deal. You can start planning those ceremonies that matter. These are life events that shape who we are, those things are going to be able to be done and be safe. Tim Walz: (10:24) And I mentioned this that we understand we're introducing more risk as this has always been about using science and measuring risk, understanding that there's the health side of things, there's the wellbeing side of things and there's the business and economic side of things and trying to find the middle of that Venn diagram. This we believe gets us there. Tim Walz: (10:43) Restaurants and bars are going up to 75% capacity. They can have indoor and outdoor up to 250 people, 250 in, 250 out. Personal services, haircuts, personal grooming, no capacity limits just the social distancing that works now. We know a lot about how this works, we don't see a lot of spread of cases in those settings. Gyms and fitness centers are going up to 50%, 250 people max and of course, masks. This is an area and it's about physical health, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, we know how important these are. They also have a higher degree of risk, but I want to compliment all of our folks who run these facilities for making the necessary mitigation efforts, continuing to work with us to say, we can do this safer and safer and attempt to try and do that. Then entertainment venues, 50% of capacity to 250 max. Tim Walz: (11:32) A little bit more about this, warmer weather. Again, we were super worried when we went indoors, we saw it in November, December a spike came. Last summer, if you remember, we saw a spike in April and May in the beginning parts of this pandemic and then we saw a flattening that stayed at a plateau throughout the warm summer months. You can distance more, you can be outside, you're not inside where we're concerned about ventilation or spread. So all venues are open on March 15th, they're open at 50% up to 250 people, larger venues on April 1st, non seated indoor, as you see there, that's where your convention center, you're moving around. Up to 1500 seated indoor because it's more controlled, less spread, that's the science behind this from the beginning, up to 3000 and then non seated outdoors, 15% of their capacity and seated outdoor. And both of those have a max of 10,000. Tim Walz: (12:23) There are a few venues that have that, a seated outdoor. Obviously, Target Field is one of those, obviously, Allianz Fields. So if some of you are doing your math on this, I believe opening day for the Twins is the 8th of April, opening day for Minnesota United is the 15th. So the answer on this is, is that that wonder wall will be there, a little bit social distance, but fans are back in the stadiums. Tim Walz: (12:49) Work from home. Many of our folks and our frontline workers did not have the luxury of working from home, whether they were grocery store workers or whether they were healthcare workers or others, they needed to be in that place. We prioritize them for vaccines and we made sure that there were accommodations made for folks that were at the highest risk that they could be protected and not lose their job. A lot of folks did work from home and their companies, I want to say this to all those folks, prioritized the safety of their employees and made sure, and that will continue on. The change that we're making is, is that the work from home requirement will be strongly recommended but not required. Employers will continue to accommodate those employees, under the law you are protected if you are sick or someone in your family is vulnerable, they'll make arrangements with you. Tim Walz: (13:34) But I think all of us have learned, work after COVID is going to look different, some folks who were in workplace settings may work remotely now because that is a more efficient, economical, and a better tool for them. Employers will work to make that happen, but there's a lot that want folks to come back and there's a lot of us you miss the social interaction of being in the office. We'll make that and we'll do it safely. The State of Minnesota, we're not bringing back our folks yet. We're making those accommodations, we're doing just like other large employers are figuring out the best way to make sure and balance the safety of our employees of what makes sense in that work place. Tim Walz: (14:13) This reflects our progress. I'm going to say it and you've heard it and I know you're all sick of it. We have to keep wearing masks right now. They work. They're cheap and they simply not only protect you, they protect your neighbors. It is the simplest most effective thing that we can do and as we go back and we do some of these things, just keep wearing the mask. Maintain that social distancing, the six foot. And I'll say this, do the testing, it's still out there, continue to get tested. I know some of you are in a routine now we're really encouraging students because we're seeing a little bit as more students are in school. It's not surprising. We're seeing a little bit of inch up of test positivity and students. We want that to be as available as possible to them and especially athletes that you need to participate, we know it's a healthy activity, but as we've seen these outbreaks in sporting events end up spreading them to other teams that then get into the school setting at some point. We just need to mitigate that. The good news is that Minnesota has a higher percentage of our teachers vaccinated than almost any other state and we're not seeing an outbreak amongst teachers. So once again, we have the capacity to do this. Tim Walz: (15:17) We're not going to stop until it's over, so I just want to make clear on this. This is the push. This is the final push down the end. We're going to have vaccines that'll at some point in time here, we'll have supply where demand will start to balance out. Some of you I know are still waiting in line, please be patient, it's going to be weeks not months. And make sure those of you, when you make these decisions, we try to prioritize the most vulnerable first, continue to let those folks get in line and then when it's your turn, please get in line. And all of these you'll have the choice, but if the vaccine is offered to you, please take it. That makes all the difference. That's what allows these dial turns to happen. So get that shot, get ready, start planning for summer camp, start planning for the things that you know you want to do if- Tim Walz: (16:03) ... planning for summer camps, start planning for the things that you know you want to do. If we do this right, Minnesota, and we will, keep getting vaccinated, keep wearing the mask, social distance the way we need to, and keep testing, we'll be back here sooner rather than later, and turn even more, because the ultimate goal here is what we want to get to is reduce the risk for folks, make sure people are protected and get us back as close as possible to normal. And I agree that President Biden is right, that is their for us. 4th of July should look that way. It's all within our control. And Minnesota is kind of overachieving a little bit here. I don't see any reason why we can't go a little faster than that if we just keep doing these things. Tim Walz: (16:39) So with that, I'm going to turn it to Commissioner Grove, to go through some of the specific details on this of what's changing. You got a little bit of an overview there and then Commissioner Malcolm will wrap up and tell you how to balance this risk and what is now opening, which does amount to one of the... many of these things have not been open since last March, in terms of large venues and some of those things, and that will be a dramatic change and one for the best. So with that, Commissioner Grove, Commissioner Grove: (17:16) Well thank you, Governor. Today is indeed an exciting day. We are thrilled to be here. It was, as the governor said, just a year ago that we were looking at a very uncertain future as it related to this pandemic, and we began to ask some extraordinary things of Minnesota's businesses and of our workers. And the sacrifices that our businesses and workers made to keep the rest of us safe were extraordinary. And they came at a big cost. We know that. But they also saved countless lives. And we believe when this chapter of Minnesota's history is written and we look back at how we got through these challenging times, it's the businesses and workers who made those sacrifices who will go down as some of the true heroes of this pandemic. Commissioner Grove: (17:56) So, to every hospitality worker, hotel worker, waiter, waitress, sports league arts venue, independent music venue, thank you. Thank you for everything that you have done this last year to keep the rest of us safe. We know it was an extraordinary sacrifice, but we have much brighter days ahead. Commissioner Grove: (18:13) We are not out of the woods yet, but to even be at this place where we can begin to reopen and expand our capacity restrictions is a testament to those sacrifices. The governor covered many of the details, I think, quite well. I think one way to think of this as just that starting next Monday, many of the existing venues who are open will just have the ability to open further. So, restaurants up to 75%, gyms up to 50%, salons no capacity restrictions, just keep that social distancing. Again, masks worn the entire time. But we want to make sure that these existing venues can immediately get to accepting more customers. We're hearing from businesses across the state that they're already starting to turn back customers, that the consumer confidence is moving again, that people are getting out and they're engaging in commerce. And so we want to accommodate that and get more people spending money in our economy. Commissioner Grove: (18:57) And then on April 1st is where the next change comes. And this is, as the governor said, really focused on the large venues. And it was important to us that we made sure we thought about that at every stage of the process and at every size of a venue, so that as long as you can take in more people than 500, you have the ability on a sliding scale to welcome more guests into your venues. And I think, in talking to large venues throughout this last year, one thing that we have all learned is these are professionals. They understand how to get crowd control, right? They understand sanitation. They've had a year to plan for what reopening looks like. And so doing that safely, doing that carefully is something we're very optimistic about. Commissioner Grove: (19:34) We will have an online calculator that large venues can take a look at. They can just plug in what kind of venue they are, what their capacity is, and we'll shoot out a number that will tell them what their capacity should be. It'll be simple, it'll be easy. And it will begin to get us back into these venues and these experiences that we all love and share so much. Commissioner Grove: (19:50) And then that next shift that the governor outlined just a second ago is that work from home shift. Again, that's April 15th, that gives businesses about a month to kind of plan for how they're going to approach that. We still do strongly recommend that folks work from home if they can, but we know for so many reasons that coming into the workplace does really help. It inspires collaboration. It creates social cohesion, especially if you're a new employee, that onboarding process coming in in person really matters. So, we're excited to make that shift as well, starting April 15th. Commissioner Grove: (20:19) Just yesterday we released the January jobs report, and it provided really one of the first glimpses of what our economic recovery is going to look like in 2021. And it had some good news in it. We saw 51,000 jobs come back this January that made up for almost all of the jobs that we saw last back in December when that horrible surge of COVID-19 hit our state. So, make no mistake. Winter is a hard time to reboot your economy, and February had some really cold weeks, which we know hurt many businesses, and we've still got over 300,000 Minnesotans who are accepting unemployment insurance every week, which is about six times more than we do on average, but we are on the right track to recovery. And we think if we can make these dial forwards the governor outlined today in a safe and careful manner, it's going to accelerate our growth for everyone. And we really believe in Minnesota businesses and workers that we can get this right. Commissioner Grove: (21:09) One of the things that we're thinking about is we look at this economic recovery is we want to make sure we start with those who have suffered the most. And as we all know, those who've had the biggest challenges this last year have been Minnesotans who run small businesses, workers in lower wage jobs and people of color. All of the data will show you that those individuals have suffered the most. And so we really think we've got a once in a generation opportunity to make this the most inclusive economic recovery that this state has ever seen. And we owe it to our state and to the people who have suffered the most to get that right. It's going to require nothing less than the full measure of our devotion, both in government and in business and in our labor market. So, that optimism and sense of urgency that we have today. We want to place it in the right direction and focus on getting our economy moving in for those who need our help. Commissioner Grove: (21:56) And so for the rest of us, let's get this right. As the governor said, let's wear our masks. Let's wash our hands. Let's stay socially distant. Let's get that vaccine when it's your turn to get it. And let's shop our local businesses. Go out to your restaurants. Go out to your gyms and yoga studios. Get that item you need at your local hardware store and really patronize the businesses that you care about, that you want to see make it through as spring comes and our economy continues to recover. We all can do this together, Minnesota, and we're thrilled about the steps were taken today to get there. And with that, I'll turn it over to my colleague, Commissioner Jan Malcolm. Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (22:30) Thank you. Commissioner Grove, Governor. Good afternoon, everyone. It is indeed a hopeful early spring day in Minnesota. I just want to take a minute to add my thanks, too, to so many Minnesotans who've helped us get to this point. Certainly, I'm thinking about the healthcare providers, the doctors, the nurses, the therapists, the pharmacists, all those folks who have kept us, have cared for us, helped us heal when we've gotten sick. I want to thank the state and local public health folks who are also heroes of this pandemic, who've been working so hard to try to protect people, to try to help us limit the spread, to get good information out about what we can all do to protect ourselves and each other. Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (23:19) Commissioner Grove has rightly called out the businesses who have sacrificed much to protect all of us. And the governor has spoken about the importance of what our schools have been through, the extraordinary efforts of our educators and the burden that has fallen on parents and kids for the disruptions in their learning and in all of our lives. But we have also learned how much we have the ability to control our destiny with this pandemic. We've learned the things that we can do, each of us can do, individually and collectively, to keep our communities safe. The only reason that we're able to make this forward progress today is because we know how to manage the risk. We know the importance of masking. We- Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (24:03) How to manage the risk. We know the importance of masking, we know the value of keeping at greater distance. We know how much safer outdoor environments are than crowded, indoor environments. We know the things that we can do, as the Governor has said, we know where increasing opportunities for interaction, increases risk, until all of us are vaccinated, and until we've really snuffed out this virus, at least to the stage where it is a pandemic. We know that we're not there yet, we know we've got a ways to go, to get everybody vaccinated and to keep this virus under control. But we know that we can do it, even as we increase our interactions with each other. Paying attention to these basic prevention measures is the thing that is going to let that progress continue, along with getting vaccinated when you have the opportunity. Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (24:50) Now, the Governor mentioned how important it is that we keep our eye on changes in the virus around the world. With this extraordinary global outbreak, with literally hundreds of millions of opportunities that this virus has had to transmit and to mutate along the way, that's what giving rise to these variants, and they're popping up with increasing frequency. It's just really important that we keep the cases down, even as we are getting more people vaccinated. This is really a race against time. It's getting people vaccinated before these variants can take hold. Here in Minnesota, we're watching carefully to see what is happening with the variants. We've got some great capability at our state's public health lab and partnership with other laboratories to, as the Governor mentioned, know when we're seeing variants of this virus, and then take action accordingly. Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (25:48) And as the Governor said, it's always been the case that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not the flu, and these new variants are different than the earlier variants. They are more transmissible, and the evidence suggests that they are also potentially more dangerous in the sense of causing more severe disease. We're going to know over the next few weeks, as we see what's happening, as we do have variants in Minnesota. We're going to see how that translates to perhaps increased cases in the hospital and so forth. And it's partially for those reasons that we're, as the Governor mentioned, it's really up to us, all of us to keep doing these prevention measures so we don't see a lot more cases going into the hospital, so we can continue to move forward and turn the dial safely as we all work hard to get Minnesotans vaccinated just as quickly as possible. Commissioner Jan Malcolm: (26:44) And that progress has just been nothing short of extraordinary in recent weeks. And that's due to the hard work of an awful lot of people and an extraordinary amount of collaboration between the different parts of our public health and healthcare systems, working with community organizations now, and employers, to get vaccines out into these workforces and out to these folks who are particularly vulnerable by virtue of their underlying health conditions. I'm really excited and grateful for where we are, and I know it's really up to us as Minnesotans to keep doing what we have learned how to do this last year, to take this seriously, to do the things that we individually can do, to allow this forward progress to continue. We're absolutely so close to the victory line, and I'm going to borrow the Governor's coaching style here to say, if we're on the 20-yard line, Governor, and driving for the end zone, let's not fumble the ball now. We'll keep up the good work and we will indeed have a bright summer. Thank you. Tim Walz: (27:47) Thanks Commissioner, you're absolutely right, and we're going to run the score up on this virus. Minnesotans, I'm thankful to these two that you've gotten to know, the state is filled with dedicated public employees who have shifted to make this happen. Our private sector partners has been absolutely spectacular. You've seen business owners up here with me, you've seen CEOs and nurses, you've seen students, you've seen just the gamut that makes Minnesota so great and we ask much of you. And we approach this always with the idea that the protection of Minnesotans lives was the paramount responsibility of the Governor. I took that very seriously. We used in science, we listened to the people that knew, I surrounded myself with folks who were experts in this, not because they agreed, but because they had the expertise to make those decisions. And we tried to balance those decisions, as we said from the beginning, the health imperative with the wellness and the economy. Tim Walz: (28:39) And I've had to tell you things that what were not popular, but they were the right thing to do. And as you've heard me speak over this last year, we have been measured and thoughtful about how we approach this. We have been willing to pivot and change to get there, and I have dug into these numbers time and time again. And I've never spoken to you with a false bravado or a cockiness about this, but I'm here to tell you, we're winning. We're winning and this thing's coming to an end. Today is a day that a lot of things are going to start to change that you're going to notice, as Commissioner said, and everyone will tell you, let's just buckle down. We're going to know in the next three or four weeks, if we truly got this thing on the ropes and it's done, and then we finish it. Tim Walz: (29:22) Minnesotans, I'll ask you one more time, that resilience and grit, let's dig deep. Let's make this work. I'm going to give a big thank you to the federal government and President Biden for signing the American Rescue Plan. Small businesses out there, help is on the way. This should have been done months and months ago. So the economic side that will help you, because you sacrifice for our health, is coming. And Minnesotans, Commissioner Grove is right. Let's make sure we take care of our neighbors, both health-wise, let's take care of them economics-wise, and let's see this as a win for all of us. We're all in this together. I am grateful for the work of the Trump Administration working towards the vaccine. I'm grateful for the Biden Administration in the distribution of the vaccine. This is one thing that we can put an end to on this. Tim Walz: (30:03) We're united in beating this virus, we are united in getting our economy and our life back, and we're united in making sure we don't leave a single one of our neighbors behind in this. All of those things are in our control right now, we just need to take it and finish it. So Minnesotans, it's a great Spring day. I'm sure now, that trying to refresh to get those early vaccines will look a lot like trying to get those Twins tickets right now, but there'll be plenty of games and there'll be plenty of Summer, and there'll be plenty of activities out there. Make sure you're getting yourself ready, getting your family ready, and again, the Minnesota summer's on the way. Thank you, everyone.