MN Gov. Walz Announces New COVID Restrictions, 10 PM bar & restaurant closing time, no bar serve

[progree]

Gov. Tim Walz Announces New COVID-19 Restrictions, Earlier Restaurant And Bar Closing Times ... beginning this Friday November 13

Bar counter service is also going to be shut down, except at places that only offer counter service. 50% capacity up to 150 max capacity (the prior limit was 250, according to bringmethenews).

USNEWS: "the new rules will ban sitting at the bar and activities that involve standing — such as pool, darts and dancing"

Minnpost: people can’t sit at bar or restaurant counters OR ORDER FOOD AND DRINKS THERE. A business that only has counter service can serve people there if patrons wear masks and sit at a table.

Fox: Bars and restaurants that only have counter service can still have patrons line up with masks and then return to their tables.

Gatherings: 10 people limit both inside and outside, except weddings, funerals and other similar events -- those are capped at 50 people on Nov 27, and 25 people on Dec 11

MPR: The state has lifted capacity restrictions on stores and retailers

Fox: state officials will soon roll out a cell phone tracker designed to alert people when they've been near someone who tested positive

Progree: the no sitting or standing at the bar except in limited circumstances to order has been in place since August 1 in Minneapolis.

LINKS:

MPR and Fox have links to the executive order

Bringmethenews does maybe the best job of organizing it in categories

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/covid-19-walz-confirms-bars-must-close-at-10-p-m-new-limits-on-gatherings

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/11/10/walz-next-steps-in-minn-covid19-fight

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/11/10/gov-tim-walz-announces-new-covid-19-restrictions-earlier-restaurant-and-bar-closing-times/

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/minnesota/articles/2020-11-10/minnesota-to-impose-new-virus-rules-on-bars-and-restaurants

https://www.minnpost.com/state-government/2020/11/what-to-know-about-minnesotas-new-restrictions-on-bars-restaurants-and-social-gatherings/

https://www.fox9.com/news/walz-imposes-new-covid-19-limits-on-bars-restaurants-social-gatherings

[Blue Owl]

1. K&R

[progree]

2. Here's something I wrote last night about Minnesota

We've been watching our cases rise and rise since mid-September, but nothing except more easings. Meanwhile, the 7 day moving average of daily new cases surpassed its previous all time peak on September 21 at 856 cases. As of November 8, the 7dma of new cases is 4,313 cases, a 5-fold increase.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/minnesota-coronavirus-cases.html

In just the last 14 days, our new cases have gone up 2.75-fold.

We're now #7 at your link ( https://covidactnow.org/?s=1304314 ) in daily new cases per capita, and have a high 14.9% test positivity rate.

Yes of course it hasn't helped that 3 of our 4 U.S. neighbors (NoDak, SoDak, Wisconsin) have been in the top 3 or 4 spots most of the time for weeks in terms of new cases per capita. (The 4th U.S. neighbor, Iowa, has ranked between #5 and #8 for weeks until recently. Its now at #4).

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Part of the problem.

Your School systems are another problem. Sports programs are super spreaders.

[progree]

5. No doubt, but how are they worse than those in the other 42 states that have lower new case loads?

(daily new cases per capita)

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Hmmmm,

Minnesotans tend to be huggers and glad handers. Spent sixty years in Minny and Wisconsin. No the culture a tad bit don't cha-no.

[BainsBane]

3. Just close the bars

[progree]

7. MDH says only 2% of the cases since indoor bar / dining opened are connected to bars / restaurants

"Since June 10, when indoor dining resumed in Minnesota, MDH says there were 117 outbreaks at bars and restaurants, with at least 2,400 confirmed cases connected to those outbreaks. That’s just under 2% of all cases since then."

On the other hand, how the heck can they really know or tell? There are innumerable possibilities for most people picking it up, how can they connect it to one of these in particular? At the same time they can be wildly undercounting, e.g. if they don't know where someone likely picked it up, that wouldn't be in the statistics for any venue, but obviously they got it somewhere.

People of course lie all the time too. "Me, at a bar? Merciful Jesus, I would never, ever..."

What I'm surprised about is that I haven't seen is any comparison of Minneapolis to the rest of the state or to other areas of the metro including St. Paul. Minneapolis has, since August 1, closed the bar areas -- one can't sit or stand at bars, with the limited exception they later made that one can order at one designated end of the bar (standing in line if more than one person waiting to order) but then go back to their table or something like that. I think that ordering at the bar is allowed only in a small number of special circumstances.

Anyway, I've long thought that closing the bar areas and having service only when seated at tables would be quite effective. In general people have to sit at their table to eat or drink, and there are limits on how many at a table, and the tables have to be spread apart and yada. I don't know any other cities / towns / localities in Minnesota that have closed their bar areas, so it should show up in comparison statistics (if effective enough to show up in the statistics).

Another factor in any comparison stats is that people who do like bars would go to NON-Minneapolis bars / restaurants with bars, so Minneapolis could do better in the stats simply by losing a lot of its bar business and having it go elsewhere. (There are actually very few pure bars, I can think of only two in all my decades in the Twin Cities, almost all bars are part of restaurants. Some are more restauranty than bary, others are more bary than restauranty).