At his daily COVID-19 briefing today, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz extended the stay at home executive order that was scheduled to expire Friday. The extension runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 3.

The same rules are expected to apply as in his initial stay at home order, where only essential workers are allowed to have an exemption and individuals are able to be in public places to shop for groceries and other necessary supplies, picking up take-out food orders, health and safety activities, care of persons or pets in another location, outdoor activities, moving to a new residence and relocation to ensure safety.

In a news release, Walz said, “We are taking this seriously, and we are staying home. While Minnesota is showing lower rates of infections than our peers across the country, now is not the time to let up or allow that trajectory to change. Updated federal guidance and our own public health experts are showing that if we keep staying home we will save lives.”