Category: Covid-19

Top Stories

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- There's no more dial system in Pueblo County, all local COVID-19 restrictions and requirements have been lifted for businesses and events as of Monday, according to Pueblo County Public Health.

This means all capacity restrictions have been lifted, and masks aren't required in many settings across Pueblo County.

The Pueblo County Board of Health made the decision to "align with most recent state executive and public health orders," according to a statement sent out on Monday.

However, Public Health Director Randy Evetts did note that businesses can implement their own restrictions.

"This pandemic is not over, COVID-19 is still circulating in Pueblo County and across the nation, and until more individuals are vaccinated, we should continue to take actions that prevent the spread of the disease," Evetts said in a statement.

While the goal is to get Pueblo County, and the state, to 70% of eligible people being vaccinated, as of Monday, only 48.4% of eligible people over the age of 16 have been vaccinated in Pueblo County.

You can sign up to get a COVID-19 vaccine by clicking this link.

Pueblo issued the list of the following changes to its COVID-19 guidelines, according to Monday's news release:

Local News / News / Pueblo

Read the original:

Pueblo County lifts all COVID-19 requirements for businesses and events - KRDO

The Indian Medical Association earlier this month said a "complete, well-planned, pre-announced national lockdown" for 10 to 15 days would give the country's overstretched health system time to "recoup and replenish both the material and manpower" it needs.

And top US coronavirus advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci on May 9 said of India: "You've got to shut down ... you need to break the chain of transmission."

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has done that before, and learned a very painful lesson. Experts say shutting down the nation again is not realistic.

That lockdown, which ultimately lasted almost four months, helped India to control the spread of coronavirus, but it came at a high cost, leaving the country's poorest and most vulnerable without income or food, and often stranded far from home.

This time around, Modi says a national lockdown would be a "last option."

"We have to save the country from lockdown," Modi said in an address to the nation on April 20. "We have to try hard to avoid lockdowns."

Since then, the leaders of 35 of 36 of India's states and union territories have imposed their own restrictions, including night curfews, partial closures and week-long lockdowns. These kind of short-term, localized measures are drastically different from the approach taken the last time India faced a coronavirus wave.

Some experts say this makes total sense, as it gives regional leaders the freedom to tailor restrictions to the size of the local outbreak, and the needs of their residents.

A one-size-fits-all lockdown for a country of 1.3 billion people doesn't work, they argue.

India's poor were hit hardest

The model says a national 15-day lockdown could save approximately 100,000 lives, and prevent some 20 million people from catching the virus. The longer the lockdown, the more case numbers are projected to fall, according to the model.

But a nationwide lockdown has its own health risks, particularly for India's poor.

About 100 million Indians are migrant workers, mostly from rural areas who moved to cities for work. During the first lockdown, many were stranded without jobs or food, prompting a mass exodus from cities.

With the national railway system suspended and domestic borders closed, hundreds tried to make the journey home on foot over many weeks and thousands of miles. Many didn't make it, dying from exhaustion, dehydration, hunger or roadside accidents

Ajnesh Prasad, a professor and Canada Research Chair in the School of Business at Royal Roads University, said only a "certain class of individuals" had the luxury to stay at home and maintain social distance.

"If we talk about the urban poor, it's impossible for them to observe these directives," Prasad said. "They will tell you that observing these directives would be tantamount to starving themselves to death."

Population density complicates matters further -- about 35% of India's urban population lives in slums, where households lack sufficient living space and adequate sanitation facilities, according to the World Bank.

In densely populated slum areas an entire family often lives in one small room and shares a bathroom with other families. It's impossible to distance from others -- and unrealistic to expect movement without the risk of virus transmission.

The things that make a lockdown both feasible and effective -- staying indoors, working and attending school remotely, social distancing -- require access to a stable internet connection, and to resources like a laptop and electricity. These luxuries simply aren't available to the vast majority of Indians, most of whom don't even have access to doctors or oxygen as the second wave overwhelms major cities.

Millions thrown into poverty

India's struggling economy also makes it much harder for the government to impose a second national lockdown.

"The lockdown came at a huge economic and social cost," said Chandrika Bahadur, chair of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission India Task Force. "The suddenness of the announcement meant ... the vast majority of the country was unprepared in terms of the implications on income, food, security of tenure, and safety. And in turn, both the central and state governments were unprepared for the migrant crisis."

The economic disruption of the first lockdown has also left India's government with "less policy room to maneuver," Bahadur added.

India has a weaker financial system than countries the United States or the United Kingdom, for instance. There's less money and fewer systems to send it to those who need it most.

Some parts of the country did see ration kits distributed to the poor during the first lockdown, but that wasn't enough to keep people at home. They still needed to earn a wage to feed their families.

"Without a government establishing a robust system of social support through public policy, which would appear in the form of social assistance programs like stipend or subsidies, a lockdown isn't feasible," said Prasad, from Royal Roads University.

A localized approach

In early April, as cases began surging in the capital, New Delhi, many migrant workers returned to their home villages even before any restrictions were imposed. Many were afraid that a surprise lockdown could leave them stranded once again.

India's varied topography means its population density is concentrated in specific hubs -- and while the virus can spread everywhere, its effects are felt more acutely in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Each state also has a different level of resource availability, including health care capacity.

A nationwide lockdown would leave little space for state and local governments to respond to the pandemic in a way fitting to their local circumstances. Right now, some states have nightly curfews, restrictions on public transport and localized measures in certain districts

In its April report, the Lancet's Covid-19 Commission India Task Force recommended against a "blanket national or state lockdown."

Instead, it backed measures such as closing venues for large gatherings and encouraging white-collar workers to operate from home -- but urged the government to minimize restrictions for the rural and urban poor.

Bahadur said the Task Force is now calling for localized but synchronized closures based on two variables -- the spread of the disease and medical preparedness.

Modi echoed those recommendations in his April address, asking state leaders to focus on "micro-containment zones" instead of full lockdowns.

States and union territories are now adopting this approach -- for instance, Delhi has imposed several consecutive lockdowns for short periods of time such as seven or 10 days, with exceptions for many categories of essential workers -- unlike the first lockdown last year.

"The basic point is that there are no simple yes or no answers to a very complicated set of questions," Bahadur said.

"In a country with such diversity, localized decisions, driven by a common science and evidence based approach, with a strong coordinated response is our best bet for success."

Link:

Calls are growing for another nationwide India lockdown. That's not realistic - CNN

Virginia is ending its universal mask mandate and will lift all COVID-19 mitigation restrictions on May 28, two weeks earlier than planned, Gov. Ralph Northam announced late Friday afternoon.

In a brief video message, Northam said the state would follow the new guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Preventionand no longer require fully vaccinated Virginians to wear masks indoors, except in certain circumstances, effective Friday at midnight. The move comes about 11 1/2 months after Northam put the mask mandate in place in late May 2020, as COVID-19 cases were soaring statewide.

Northam said businesses may still require patrons to wear masks indoors and that masks would still be required to be worn in schools. He cited the low rates of vaccinations among children as a reason for continuing to require masks in schools. Vaccines were just approved this week for adolescents aged 12 to 15, and no vaccine has been approved for children under age 12.

Northam previously had announced a plan to lift all of the state's coronavirus restrictions, such as capacity limits indoors and social-distancing requirements, on June 15. However, based on the state'simproving numbers, he said the restrictions would all be ended on May 28. This will follow a previously announced easing of many restrictions beginning tomorrow.

"Virginians have been doing the right thing and we're seeing the results," Northam said in the video. The state's number of new COVID-19 cases is at its lowest level since early last summer, and Northern Virginia's numbers are at their lowest since the first month of the pandemic.

"The vaccines are clearly working and they are saving lives," Northam said.

Nearly 4.1 million Virginians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and over 3 million are fully vaccinated. Northam urged all Virginians to get vaccinated.

"It's very simple," he said. "It's either a shot or a mask. It's up to you."

The CDC guidelines state that fully vaccinated individuals do not have to wear masks in most indoor settings, except on public transit, in health care facilities and in congregate settings. Employees in certain sectors including restaurants, retail, fitness, personal care, and entertainment must continue to wear masks unless fully vaccinated under the CDC guidance.

Northam's office said in a news release that Virginia's state of emergency for the pandemic will remain in place at least through June 30 to give local governments flexibility and support vaccination efforts. Northam plans to take executive action to ensure individuals have the option to wear masks up to and after that date, as masks typically are otherwise illegal in Virginia.

Watch Gov. Ralph Northam's video update ending Virginia's mask mandate.

Link:

Virginia lifts mask mandate, will end COVID-19 restrictions on May 28 - Inside NoVA

A man wearing a protective suit touches the body of his relative, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), before his cremation on the banks of the river Ganges at Garhmukteshwar in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo

Bodies of COVID-19 victims have been found dumped in some Indian rivers, a state government letter seen by Reuters says, in the first official acknowledgement of the alarming practice, which it said may stem from poverty and fear of the disease in remote areas.

Images of corpses drifting down the Ganges river, which is considered holy in Hinduism, have shocked the country, reeling under the world's worst surge in COVID-19 cases.

Although media reports have linked the increase in the number of bodies found floating in the river and its tributaries in recent days to the pandemic, Indias northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 240 million people, has until now not publicly revealed the cause of the deaths.

"The administration has information that bodies of those who have succumbed to COVID-19 or any other disease are being thrown into rivers instead of being disposed of as per proper rituals," a senior state official, Manoj Kumar Singh, said in a letter dated May 14 to district heads that was reviewed by Reuters.

"As a result, bodies have been recovered from rivers in many places."

Singh was not immediately reachable for comment.

The acknowledgment comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on officials to strengthen healthcare resources in rural areas and step up surveillance as the virus spreads rapidly in those areas after ravaging the cities.

Uttar Pradesh, home to more people than Brazil or Pakistan, has been badly hit by Indias dramatic second surge in COVID-19 cases. Health experts say many cases are now going undetected in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, where most of its people live.

Singh in the memo to district heads said a lack of funds to buy materials like firewood for cremation, religious beliefs in some communities, and families abandoning COVID-19 victims for fear of the disease, were among the likely reasons for the surge in body dumpings.

He asked village-level officials to ensure no corpses are thrown into water and said the state government would pay poor families of the dead 5,000 rupees ($68) each to cremate or bury bodies. The state has also asked police to patrol rivers to stop the practice.

India has been officially reporting around 4,000 deaths each day from the disease for nearly two weeks, but health experts say the toll is likely much higher due to poor testing in rural areas and other factors.

The jump in deaths has in many places led to backlogs at crematoriums and multiplied the cost of last rites.

Uttar Pradesh spokesman Navneet Sehgal on Saturday denied local media reports that as many as 2,000 corpses of potential COVID-19 victims had been recovered from rivers in the state and neighbouring Bihar in recent days.

"We keep recovering 10 to 20 bodies every now and then," Sehgal told Reuters, adding that some riverside villages did not cremate their dead due to Hindu traditions during some periods of religious significance.

Bihar officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Here is the original post:

Bodies of COVID-19 victims among those dumped in India's Ganges -gov't document - Reuters India

Mount Everest, the world highest peak, and other peaks of the Himalayan range are seen through an aircraft window during a mountain flight from Kathmandu, Nepal January 15, 2020. REUTERS/Monika Deupala/File Photo

An international expedition abandoned its attempt to scale Mount Everest on Saturday, citing risks posed by an increasing number of COVID-19 cases at the base camp, the organisers said.

Some climbers were evacuated from Everest base camp in April after they fell ill with COVID-19 symptoms as Nepal battles a brutal second wave of infections.

Lukas Furtenbach, of Austrian expedition organising company Furtenbach Adventures, said his team of climbers from America, Norway, Israel, Germany, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg and Romania were abandoning the climb for safety reasons as the number of COVID-19 infections at the base camp was increasing.

"To climb ... with these massively increasing coronavirus numbers and risk the lives of our 20 climbers, 4 mountain guides and 27 Sherpas carelessly, would be irresponsible," Furtenbach said in a statement.

Infections at Everest base camp have surged as "elementary precautionary measures were simply not observed" by some teams, he said, without naming any expeditions.

Tendi Sherpa of the Iceland Trekking and Expedition company, which provided local support to the team, confirmed climbers were returning for fear of the disease.

Department of Tourism Director Mira Acharya said she had no information of any expedition evacuating due to COVID-19 fears.

"Doctors at the base camp said the situation was not as serious as it was reported," she told Reuters. "I did not see any terrible situation there," said Acharya, who returned this week after overseeing preparations at the base camp.

Nepal has reported 447,704 coronavirus cases and 4,856 deaths, according to government data.

The Himalayan nation, which earns millions of dollars from climbers every year, closed the mountain in March 2020 due to the pandemic, but reopened for this year's climbing season that started in April. It issued a record 408 permits to climbers attempting to scale the 8,848.86-metre (29,031.69-foot) peak.

Acharya said more than 150 people had climbed the mountain this month and others were waiting for a new weather window to open up.

Two climbers died of exhaustion on the mountain this week.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Link:

Foreign expedition abandons Everest attempt citing COVID-19 risks - Reuters

by: Robert Pandolfino, Nexstar Media Wire

FILE This Jan. 24, 2021, file photo shows a vial of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 in Seattle. U.S. regulators on Monday, May 10, 2021, expanded use of Pfizers shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

TAMPA (WFLA) In a move that took the country one step closer to pre-pandemic daily life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased the indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.

But many are wondering what that will mean for the workplace will employers have the right to ask workers if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine? Or request proof of vaccination?

Companies including Delta have implemented new rules requiring new employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Monday. The airline wont impose the same requirement on current employees, more than 60% of whom are vaccinated, a Delta spokesman said Friday.

Unlike Delta, airlines including American, United, Southwest and Alaska said they do not plan to require vaccination for current employees or new hires. But, American Airlines said it will give vaccinated employees an extra vacation day and a $50 gift card.

Jascha Clark, a shareholder at Salt Lake City law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker, told KTVX there is guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on this topic.

Employers may ask employees if theyve been vaccinated against COVID-19 and may also ask employees to provide proof of vaccination, and the reason that this is allowed is because the EEOC generally prohibits inquiries that are disability related, he explained.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that an employer can have a policy with a requirement that an individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of individuals in the workplace.

An unvaccinated person is not automatically a threat to others, however, and the employer might also have to make accommodations depending on the reasons behind the vaccine hesitancy.

An employee with a religious objection or a disability may need to be excused from the mandate or otherwise accommodated, John Lomax, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix, told the Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, if an objecting employee is a union-represented employee, the employer may need to bargain and reach an agreement with the union before mandating vaccines.

Clark says he has been counseling clients that employers really do have a legitimate business reason to keep track of employees who have been vaccinated for safety reasons.

Employers can then use this information, together with the risk of transmission by people whove been vaccinated, to inform decisions about reopening and expanding the number of individuals in the area and that sort of thing.

But does asking for proof of vaccination violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, more commonly known as HIPAA? Clark says it doesnt.

Generally, HIPAA prevents healthcare providers from sharing information. Here, youre asking the employee themself to provide the information and so its their information theyre able to share it if they want to, he stated.

Could an incentive be the way to go for employers?

AsurveybyJobvites 2021 Job Seeker Nation Report, found that employers who incentivize getting the vaccine helps. Of the surveyed workers who disagreed with vaccine mandates in the workplace, one-third saidthey would get the vaccine if their employer incentivized them.

In a survey conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, more than 75,000 unvaccinated people were interviewed, and about a third of them said a cash payment of as much as $100 would make them more likely to get the COVID-19 shot.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made a splash Wednesday when he announced that a special lottery for people who choose to get vaccinated.

Five lucky adult residents who get shots will receive $1 million during a series of weekly drawings. Five children between the ages of 12 and 17 will be able to will a full-ride scholarship to an Ohio state-run University.

See the original post:

Can my employer ask if I have received the COVID-19 vaccine? What you need to know - WBOY.com

For the past year, whenever Jillian Seroka picks up her usual almond milk cortado from Oslo Coffee Roasters in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, she is presented with a prompt on the point-of-sale iPad asking how much gratuity to add on top of her $6 bill. She typically tips $3.

Sometimes, I walk away and Im like, I probably could have gotten an appetizer at a restaurant for that price, says Ms. Seroka, a 29-year-old who works as an advertising account manager.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she says she has found herself tipping service workers 30% or more to champion businesses that have struggled to stay afloat.

I feel good about it for supporting them but sometimes, by the time the tip is done and your different specifications with your coffee, youre like, Oh my God, I need to get my spending under control.

Tipping on credit cards increased nationwide last summer, according to Mike Lynn, researcher and professor at Cornell Universitys School of Hotel Administration. Analyzing data from payment company Square, Prof. Lynn found that credit-card tips for quick-service and full-service restaurant delivery orders jumped from below 11% before the pandemic to above 15% in May of last year.

Read the original post:

The Post-Covid-19 Rules of Tipping - The Wall Street Journal

In this Article In this Article In this Article

Researchers continue to learn more about COVID-19s long-term impact on our bodies. Now theyre looking into the link between the virus and erectile dysfunction (ED). Thats when a person has a hard time getting or keeping their penis firm enough to have sex.

Researchers think three things may trigger ED in COVID-19 survivors:

Cardiovascular problems. ED can be an early sign of heart disease. Research also shows COVID-19 can affect heart health. Thats because it can lead to inflammation in various parts of your body. This includes your heart and the blood vessels and veins nearby.

COVID-19 has also been linked to endothelial dysfunction. Thats when the inner lining or wall of blood vessels stays stiff instead of expanding and contracting to allow blood flow. This can affect how blood is pumped and carried through your body, including tissue in the penis. Disrupted blood supply to your penis can make it difficult to get or keep an erection.

Mental issues. COVID-19-related stress, anxiety, and depression can also impact sexual health and possibly lead to ED.

Poor overall health. Experts say ED is usually a symptom of another medical condition. If your health isnt great to begin with, youre more likely to have severe or unwanted symptoms from COVID-19, such as ED.

Older age can also increase your risk for both ED and a severe form of COVID-19 infection.

One study found that people infected with the virus were more than 5 times more likely to develop ED. In another small study, researchers took penis tissue samples from two men whod been infected with COVID-19. One had had severe symptoms, the other mild. The samples were taken before both men had surgery for severe ED symptoms. The scientists found COVID-19 viral particles and endothelial dysfunction long after the two men first had their infections.

Its still too early to know for sure what the long-term effects of the virus are on sexual and reproductive health.

ED as a side effect of COVID-19 can be short- or long-term. But experts aren't not sure if these complications can lead to issues with fertility.

Tell your doctor right away if you think you have ED, especially after a COVID-19 infection. Theyll ask about your medical history and give you a physical exam. They might also order lab tests or refer you to a urologist. Thats a doctor who specializes in treating problems in the male reproductive tract. Theyll figure out whats causing your ED and come up with a treatment plan.

Experts recommend getting the COVID-19 vaccine to lower your risk of ED as a side effect.

SOURCES:

Andrology: Mask up to keep it up: Preliminary evidence of the association between erectile dysfunction and COVID19.

World Journal of Men's Health: COVID-19 Endothelial Dysfunction Can Cause Erectile Dysfunction: Histopathological, Immunohistochemical, and Ultrastructural Study of the Human Penis.

Cleveland Clinic: Yes, COVID-19 Can Cause Erectile Dysfunction.

Urology Care Foundation: What is Erectile Dysfunction?

Stanford Healthcare: Endothelial Dysfunction.

Medscape: Risk for Erectile Dysfunction Sixfold Higher in Men With COVID-19.

Pagination

Continue reading here:

COVID-19 and Erectile Dysfunction: What to Know - WebMD

COVID-19 vaccines: effectiveness and number needed to treat  The Lancet

Go here to read the rest:

COVID-19 vaccines: effectiveness and number needed to treat - The Lancet

Updated: 11:45 a.m.

It marks a singular milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic: Friday morning, Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order to undo the state's mask mandate.

The announcement comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks outside or inside in most cases.

Heres what you need to know about the latest developments.

Anyone who is fully vaccinated people who are two weeks out from their second shot if they got a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or their only shot if they got a Johnson & Johnson vaccine no longer have to wear masks outside or inside, under most circumstances.

There are caveats: If you're in a medical building like a hospital or long-term care facility you still need to mask. If you're on a plane or a bus, you still need to mask. And schools will continue to follow state education department guidance that requires masks in school buildings until the end of the academic year.

The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are continuing with their masking rules despite changing guidance from the state and federal government. But other Minnesota cities are making different decisions.

The city of Duluth says it will stop enforcing its mask ordinance immediately. The city council plans to vote to repeal the ordinance on May 24.

Duluth, Winona, Rochester, Manakato and others, implemented mask rules last summer before the statewide mask mandate went into effect last July 22.

St. Cloud says its mask rule was rendered null and void when Gov. Walz initiated the state-wide mask mandate. The city does not plan to revisit a new mask rule.

But Minneapolis and St. Paul say they are keeping their mask rules in place pending advice from public health officials.

Despite Gov. Walz's decision to undo the state's mask mandate, cities, businesses and private organizations have the option to implement their own mask rules.

This news disrupts that plan.

The announcement came just a week after Gov. Tim Walz announced that he would drop Minnesota's mask mandate on July 1, or when 70 percent of Minnesotans 16 or older had been vaccinated, whichever came first.

Walz said the CDC announcement Thursday took him by surprise. And he emphasized that there are still a lot of people in the state who need to be vaccinated.

He said he doesn't think the new CDC guidance is a disincentive to getting vaccinated. The state will just continue to double down on reaching people who haven't gotten shots yet.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says she's not entirely comfortable with the federal guidance.

"People who are not vaccinated still are at risk, she said. My concern about this is that there are a lot of people in Minnesota who are not vaccinated.

Municipalities and private businesses still have the ability to enact their own mask-wearing rules, but the lifted mandate leaves the decision to wear masks largely in the hands of individuals.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Thursday that she has mixed feelings about the news.

On one hand, she said, the science is increasingly clear that the vaccines not only prevent illness but also prevent transmission. This, she said, is great news.

But she also said she worries people won't abide by these new rules that people who aren't vaccinated won't wear masks, endangering people who aren't yet eligible for the vaccine, like kids under 12, and giving the virus more opportunities to continue to circulate.

"We don't have nearly enough people vaccinated to keep this virus suppressed, she said. It will come back if we don't continue to build up more vaccination.

She said she worries that if the rule is lifted, people will assume that not wearing masks is a safe bet. But, she said, the state isnt near where it needs to be, when it comes to vaccinations, which help tamp down the virus spread.

It's really in our individual hands, she said.

Malcolm said that the state's Safe Learning plan in schools will stay in effect through the end of the current school year.

That plan requires all students in kindergarten through 12th grade to wear a face covering while they are in school buildings, with some exemptions for children under the age of five and those with certain medical or mental health conditions or disabilities.

Thursday Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove said that businesses won't be expected to police mask-wearing or have to ask people if they have been vaccinated.

The new CDC guidance gives local jurisdictions and businesses the option to continue to require masks.

Grove said this is a matter of individual responsibility, and that it will come down to people making a choice.

Michael Osterholm, a public health and infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said the new guidance is appropriate in the sense that the science backs it up and that people who are vaccinated should reap some of the benefits of getting a shot.

He said that he thinks businesses will have an incentive to make sure that people are safe in their facilities, as a way to attract customers.

"It's just like the old days of smoking in restaurants, he said. I heard time and time again that this would ruin the businesses. Just the opposite. More people went out because they wanted to go out, because they felt that comfort and protection of not having smoke throughout the restaurant."

Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at theHealth Department website.

The coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, coughs and sneezes, similar to the way the flu can spread.

You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure MPR remains a resource that brings Minnesotans together.

Donate today. A gift of $17 makes a difference.

Excerpt from:

The state has lifted its COVID-19 mask mandate. Here's what that means for you - Minnesota Public Radio News