Winona Mayor Scott Sherman during a city council meeting. File Photo
WINONA, Minn. (KWNO)-Several public institutions in Minnesota implemented masking and vaccination mandates this week.
Winona Mayor Scott Sherman told KWNO on Friday the city is not considering masking or vaccination mandates at this time. He did say the city is monitoring the numbers and has thresholds in place that would trigger more intensive mitigation strategies.
“If we hit those thresholds we will seriously consider what the next steps are,” said Sherman. “At this time, we’re not seeing numbers that would put us into those ranges.”
One of the thresholds the mayor said is local Intensive Care Unit capacity.
“That is one of the things that really could trigger some extra steps or precautionary steps to make sure we’re keeping the community safe,” Sherman said. “Once we get to the point where ICU beds are full it gets bad really fast.”
Winona County is currently experiencing a high transmission rate of COVID-19, according to the CDC’s data tracker. Sherman urged eligible residents who haven’t yet to get the vaccine.
Saint Mary’s University and the University of Minnesota announced they will mandate the COVID-19 vaccine once it’s fully approved by the FDA, joining other colleges. Winona State and Saint Mary’s are requiring mask-wearing in all indoor buildings.
Winona County health officials are recommending residents to mask up indoors regardless of vaccination status.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
