Aug 2, 2021
The University of Minnesota is bringing back its mask mandate.
 In a message to faculty, students and staff, University President Joan Gabel says she’s reinstituting the mask mandate starting Tuesday. The requirement includes all university campuses and offices statewide, and requires students, staff, faculty and visitors to wear face coverings indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Gabel says she relied on the guidance of University of Minnesota health experts in making the decision. Meanwhile, state health officials held a news conference today to explain why they’re recommending that even vaccinated people should wear a mask indoors in areas with significant community transmission. In Minnesota that now includes 44 counties — including all of the Twin Cities metro area.
State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says if you’re vaccinated it’s very unlikely you’ll contract COVID. Still, in rare cases, she says people can transmit the virus to others even if they don’t develop symptoms themselves.
In other news, we’re finally getting some relief from the smoky skies that have blanketed much of Minnesota for the past several days. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has an air quality alert in place over most of the state until Tuesday afternoon because of lingering smoke from Canadian wildfires. However, the alert has been cancelled for portions of southeast Minnesota, including Rochester and Winona. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Dan Kraker, MPR News | 
