Dakota County Could Be Affected By CDC's New Mask Guidance

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — According to latest CDC guidance, Dakota County should re-implement a mask mandate.

As of Friday, 35 Minnesota counties are classified by the Centers for Disease Control as having either "high" or "substantial" transmission rates, and they should be mandating indoor masks under the new federal guidance:

• Substantial: Areas with between 50 and 99.99 cases per 100,000 people in a week
• High: Areas with more than 100 cases per 100,000 in a week

Dakota County was listed as "substantial."

On Tuesday, only 14 counties in Minnesota were either "high" or "substantial." However, exploding case growth led to more counties falling into one of those categories.

See also: Twin Cities Counties Could Be Affected By CDC's New Mask Guidance

Case growth in the past 14 days has increased by 167 percent, the New York Times reported.

The CDC can only make recommendations. It's up to the state and local government whether to adopt any new policies.

As of Friday afternoon, it was unclear if any counties would be adopting the new CDC mask guidance and issuing mandates.

Early studies show the delta variant is more infectious. The coronavirus vaccine is effective against the delta variant, particularly two weeks after both doses are received, public health officials said.

William Bornhoft contributed to this report.