July 30, 2021
Call it the crazy-hazy Minnesota summer.
 The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is extending an air quality alert until Tuesday afternoon for most of the state. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has caused record high particulate levels in Minnesota. MPCA air quality forecaster Nick Witcraft says he expects unhealthy air to linger for several more days. "Usually these hits of smoke, you know, may affect us for a couple days. But we've never had an event that would last you know, five or six days. So this is this is very unusual." Those with cardiovascular or respiratory problems should limit their time outside. And experts say even healthy people should avoid physical exertion outdoors.
Here's an explainer on why, even if you don't have a respiratory condition, you should be protecting yourself against the smoke.
Twenty-one Minnesota counties meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new recommendations for mask wearing. The list includes several around the Twin Cities and in north-central Minnesota, including Crow Wing, Todd and Douglas counties. These areas are at high or substantial risk of COVID-19 spread. The new CDC guidance comes as the result of an outbreak driven by the delta variant in Massachusetts. There, public health officials found that people who were fully vaccinated were contracting and transmitting the virus, in addition to people who were unvaccinated. In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz no longer has emergency authority to mandate mask wearing statewide, but local officials can. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Matt Sepic, MPR News | 
