If School Started Today, Here’s Where Southeast Minnesota Counties Would Stand

There are a lot of questions surrounding the announcement that came Thursday from Governor Walz about how Minnesota will handle the upcoming school year. The plan for the upcoming school year is dependent on the COVID-19 rates in each county. The way they will determine if schools will be either in-person, hybrid, or distance learning is based on a 14-day change in case rate and the level of schooling.

Here are the "recommended policy options based on 14-day case rate range" from the Minnesota Department of Health:

In-person learning for all students - If the 14-day case rate (per 10,000 people) is 0 to less than 10.
Elementary in-person, middle and high school hybrid - 10 to less than 20
Both hybrid - 20 to less than 30
Elementary hybrid, middle and high school distance - 30 to less than 50
Both distance - 50 or more

So where do Minnesota counties stand? The latest 14-day period that we can see is as of July 18th, so here is where Minnesota counties would stand, how schools would respond, based on those numbers and what the state would recommend according to the Minnesota Department of Health and the Star Tribune.