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The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, along with several businesses, will keep mask requirements in place even though Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Friday ending the statewide mask mandate.
For the near future at least, Minnesotans are likely to face a patchwork of different rules about mask-wearing, making the face covering still an essential item to carry in cars, pockets, purses or backpacks when needed to gain entry beyond the "Masks are required" sign.
At a time when case growth, test positivity rates and hospitalization rates have been decreasing but remain above cautionary levels set by state health officials, the removal of mask mandates could set the stage for more infections in those places where masks are few and far between.