Nenad Stojkovic, Flickr
Regardless of where you are in Minnesota, federal health guidelines strongly suggest wearing a mask in a public indoor space, even if you are vaccinated.
All 87 counties in the state have high or substantial transmission as of Aug. 28, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only four counties (Kittson, Lake, Pipestone, and Wadena) are in the substantially less severe category.
The remaining 83 counties have a high community transmission.
A county-by-county look at COVID transmission in Minnesota.
CDC
According to CDC guidelines, everyone — whether vaccinated or not — should wear a mask in public indoor spaces in areas with high or substantial transmission.
Rankings are based on one of two variables: total new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days and percentage of positive tests in the last seven days.
Related: Here’s the MN COVID-19 update for Monday, August 30th
The number of counties exceeding mask targeting thresholds has steadily increased since CDC announced its updated targeting on July 27, from 14 initially to 35, 45, 64, 71, 83, 86.
Across the state, the case rate in the last seven days is 188.6 per 100,000 residents, with a seven-day positivity rate of 5-7.9%.
While the entire state is a benchmark, Minnesota has the 14th lowest case rate last week among all U.S. states. The hardest hit areas (Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and South Carolina) have a case rate of more than 600 cases per 100,000 residents.