'I don't know yet at this point': Walz on extending MN's Stay-at-Home order

Amid protests calling on the state to ease Stay-at-Home guidelines, Gov. Tim Walz (D) addressed the possibility of extending those guidelines even longer. 

The issue came up at a press conference on Friday, when Walz was asked about Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' decision to extend that state's quarantine to May 26 — and whether he would follow suit.

As it stands, Minnesota's current Stay-at-Home order goes until May 4. At the press briefing, Walz indicated that any decision to extend that date would be influenced by a number of factors.

"It's going to depend on what the peak (in the number of cases) looks like," he said. Though he suggested it's "unlikely" the peak would require an extension of the quarantine, Walz urged continued vigilance.  

"The only way this is going to work, even with something like golf or shooting ranges or trails, is if we follow" guidelines like washing your hands, staying home if you're sick, coughing into your sleep and wearing a mask.

"If you have a hunch that it would be better (if) we opened up (the economy), the virus doesn't care about our hunches... what it is going to do is infect people."

He added that the state is "hitting a really critical time," and emphasized that the reopening of Minnesota would have to happen in phases.

"The things we probably want more than anything — big sporting events, crowded bars and restaurants, large backyard parties — are going to be some of the last things that come back on."

Walz's comments come a day after Minnesota experienced a new high in single-day deaths, with 17 people dying due to COVID-19 on Thursday. 

The statewide total now stands at 111 coronavirus deaths.