COVID-19 exposure puts Minnesota Gov. Walz in quarantine

Gov. Tim Walz is postponing his State of the State address and submitting to quarantine through March 25 following a positive COVID-19 test of a staff member.

The quarantine is a conservative precaution after Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm were in the same location as the infected individual during a news conference on Monday.

All agreed to quarantine, even though none had been within 6 feet of the infected person for 15 minutes — which is the threshold for a moderate viral exposure risk. The staffer was tested Tuesday and received results Wednesday.

"We do this to make sure we not only protect ourselves and our families but to protect everyone else," Walz said in a social media message on Wednesday afternoon. "This is how you beat COVID."

Walz had been scheduled to appear Wednesday morning at the state's new COVID-19 vaccination site in St. Cloud, but his attendance was abruptly postponed.

The governor has been mindful of social distancing and mask-wearing — often donning a familiar plaid mask — throughout the pandemic, but his burgeoning public schedule increased the chances for even low-risk exposure.

Monday's event was at the Mall of America to laud passage of federal COVID-19 economic relief. He was at Armstrong High School in Plymouth last Thursday to stump for summer education funding, the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute March 10 to see Malcolm receive a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the Garlough Environmental Magnet School March 8 to highlight a return to more K-12 in-person learning.

The quarantine decision is made "out of an abundance of caution" and with the recognition that all three Minnesota leaders can work remotely, Malcolm said. "We certainly will be able to be fully engaged in work."

Flanagan, whose brother died of COVID-19 last year, has received one of two Moderna COVID-19 doses. Malcolm is still in the 14-day window since her March 10 shot before she is considered fully vaccinated and protected.

Walz, 56, has yet to be vaccinated.

"He's wanted to role model the value and the importance of being patient as we've asked Minnesotans to do," Malcolm said.

This is the governor's second COVID-19 quarantine. Walz confined himself for two weeks in April 2020 after a state trooper in his security detail tested positive.

The governor technically is not among the 3.5 million people eligible for vaccine in Minnesota right now under the state's distribution plan.

The priority groups are health care workers, educators, senior citizens, long-term care residents and non-elderly adults with certain underlying health conditions or front-line occupations that present high risks for viral exposure.

So far, 23% of Minnesotans have received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including 76% of senior citizens who have suffered 89% of the state's deaths in the pandemic. Of the 1,284,612 people 16 and older who have who have received vaccine, 746,829 have completed the series either by receiving two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna versions or a single Johnson & Johnson dose.

Despite the vaccination progress, health officials remain concerned about the continued spread of the novel coronavirus that causes the infectious disease. Genomic sequencing has found the presence of three more infectious variants of the virus in Minnesota — including one variant fueling an outbreak centered on youth sports events in Carver County.

The positivity rate of diagnostic COVID-19 testing reached 4% in Minnesota for the first time since Jan. 31, and the number of Minnesota hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients increased from a low of 210 on March 6 to 282 on Tuesday.

Infection and hospitalization rates remain well below spring and fall peaks.

The state on Wednesday reported another seven COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota and 1,046 diagnosed infections, raising totals in the pandemic to 499,962 infections and 6,756 deaths.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, were among those who attended Monday's press event with the governor along with Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn. All three have been vaccinated and said in separate statements that they were not planning quarantines because they had worn masks and maintained adequate social distance from the governor's staff.

"Following Centers for Disease Control guidelines," McCollum wrote, "quarantine is not required and I intend to continue with my full congressional schedule."

Staff writer Glenn Howatt contributed to this article.

Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744