Walz To Ease Restrictions On Gyms, Restaurants, Youth Sports, Allowing Outdoor Dining But Not Indoor

the Minnesota Reformer

By Ricardo Lopez

December 16, 2020

Gov. Tim Walz is expected to loosen some of his public health restrictions Wednesday ahead of the Friday expiration of a four-week shuttering of indoor restaurant dining, gyms and entertainment venues.

Indoor dining will remain off limits through the holidays, but Walz will allow outdoor dining to resume with limitations on capacity. Gyms will be allowed to re-open on Saturday with 25% capacity and mandated mask wearing. Youth sports will be allowed to resume practices but a decision on starting game play has not yet been determined.

Altogether, the new restrictions represent a cautious reaction to public health data showing that the Thanksgiving Day holiday did not adversely contribute to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections that Walz cited in issuing the four-week closure.

Details will be outlined in greater depth during an afternoon press conference followed by a bill signing for the state’s $216 million COVID-19 relief package that will distribute cash aid to Minnesota businesses.

Hospitality and restaurant groups, who had lobbied for re-opening, nonetheless blasted the decision, saying it was unrealistic to believe outdoor dining in Minnesota in winter would be sufficient to keep restaurants afloat.

“We are gravely disappointed by the governor’s decision to extend the closure of restaurants into the new year,” Liz Rammer, president and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota, said in a statement.

Rammer said hospitality businesses can operate safely and arguing health department data show these businesses represent a small portion of places where COVID-19 spreads.

“Hospitality is a force for good in our communities, and the governor and his administration would be wise to leverage that force, rather than watch it flicker out.”

Tony Chesak, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, called the move “shameful and unjust,” saying the administration hasn’t been sufficiently transparent.

“Governor Walz’s order continues blanket rules that are resulting in the near elimination of an entire industry, employing thousands of Minnesotans,” he said in a statement. “The paltry offering of outdoor dining in the middle of a Minnesota winter doesn’t even begin to make up for the forced closures.”

The Minnesota Health Department on Wednesday announced 92 new deaths caused by COVID-19, as well as nearly 2,300 new cases.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..