Masking still required in city and county buildings until further notice

Olmsted County and the City of Rochester are still requiring masks to be worn in city and county government buildings and facilities until further notice. Olmsted County is still classified as having “High” community transmission based on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last Friday, February 25, 2022.

Last Friday, the CDC announced that it would be classifying communities as low, medium, or high transmission based on three measures: new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days. The two hospital-related measures assess the current potential for strain on the health system. Data on new cases acts as an early warning indicator of potential increases in health system strain in the event of a COVID-19 surge. Olmsted County is still considered a “High” transmission community based on these criteria. The CDC recommends that all individuals wear a mask indoors in public in communities listed as “High.”  

To that end, Olmsted County and the City of Rochester are still requiring masks to be worn in all city and county government buildings and facilities until further notice. We will continue to monitor the data and our community’s transmission level closely and make adjustments to our policies as appropriate.

“The good news is that our county’s numbers are trending downward, and we are anticipating a change in Olmsted County’s classification soon,” said Olmsted County Administrator Heidi Welsch. “We will continue to closely monitor the CDC’s classification of our community and communicate any changes to masking requirements when applicable.” 

City of Rochester Administrator Alison Zelms shared, “We thank everyone in our community for their efforts in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and look forward to the day when we can relax mask requirements inside our facilities.”

To view Olmsted County community levels and prevention steps, visit the CDC website. 

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Media contact: Rachel Wick, Communications Specialist, 507-328-6537