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Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth mayors said Tuesday they’ll require masks in all city-owned buildings beginning Wednesday. The moves come following a 

surge of COVID-19 infections in the state

 largely due to the highly transmissible delta variant. 

Masks will be required for anyone older than two in city buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Duluth did not specify an age limit. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter are also urging businesses in the cities to adopt masking requirements for staff and customers and to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to help reduce the spread of the virus. All three mayors also urged city residents to get vaccinated. 

“Most of our staff have made the choice to vaccinate, and I find it both frustrating and disappointing that we all have to go back to this,” Duluth Mayor Emily Larson said in a news release. “That said, as hard as it is to take this step back to preserve worker and public health, we now know how effective masks are and how dangerous the delta variant is. We need to keep serving the public while protecting public health, and this is one simple, effective and powerful way we can do that.”

Other local governments in the state including 

 counties have also reinstated their mask requirements in public buildings.

Among Black Minnesotans

Indoor masking recommended for many MN counties

Jon Collins

Author

MPR News Staff

The moves come following a surge of COVID-19 infections in the state largely due to the highly transmissible delta variant. 

Person standing outside wearing a blue face mask. 

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth to require masks in city buildings

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