North Hennepin News

City Of Edina issued the following announcement on July 9.

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the Edina City Council has extended a citywide masking policy.

The Edina City Council held a special meeting July 8 to consider extending the policy enacted by Mayor Jim Hovland’s emergency proclamation. Council Members agreed requiring masks is a reasonable step to protect the public health during this pandemic. Health officials are increasingly urging non-medical workers to wear facial coverings to help curb the spread of COVID-19 by preventing the transmission of respiratory droplets that contain the virus. Experts have determined masks may reduce the risk of transmission by an infected person as a force multiplier for social distancing and proper handwashing. 

Under Local Emergency Order 2020-03, people in Edina must cover their nose and mouth with a mask or cloth face covering. According to the order, this includes businesses and City-owned public facilities like City Hall. The updated order includes more guidance than Hovland’s initial order:

• Restaurants must include in their COVID-19 Preparedness Plan that all customers wear a face covering when not seated at their tables.
• Users of public transportation are required to wear a face covering before boarding a bus and wear it until exiting the vehicle.
• Those at entertainment venues must wear a face covering when within six feet of another person. When the person is seated and not within six feet of another person, they can remove it, but must put it back on when walking to or from their seat and while standing in or walking through public areas such as lobbies and restrooms.
• Residents of multi-family housing buildings and their guests and tenants, employees and guests in multi-tenant office buildings must wear a face covering when in common spaces such as hallways, corridors, lobbies, restrooms, mail rooms, elevators, trash and recycling rooms, fitness rooms, recreation rooms and other space owned and used in common.

Masks do not need to be worn inside places of worship, schools and indoor athletic facilities when social distancing can be maintained. There are other exceptions. Facial coverings do not need to be worn by people who are eating or drinking, children under the age of 5, people with medical conditions that make it difficult to breathe, those who are deaf or hard of hearing or those who care for or interact with them, and people who are unable to remove a mask without assistance. For a complete list of exceptions, view the order.

The new order will be in effect until Gov. Tim Walz enacts a statewide order requiring face coverings superseding the local order, the State’s peacetime emergency declaration ends, the City Council rescinds the order, or Dec. 31 – whichever comes first.

For more information or to view the order (PDF), visit EdinaMN.gov/coronavirus. 

Original source can be found here.