New bar, restaurant and gym restrictions expected in Minn. – StarTribune.com

Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce on Wednesday new restrictions on bars, restaurants, gyms and fitness centers, as well as youth sports, in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the state.

“Community spread is rampant now in Minnesota,” Walz said in a press briefing Tuesday. “The idea that we can just go on the way we have is simply not sustained by the facts.”

The governor’s office confirmed that new restrictions would be announced but did not provide details.

Last week, Walz issued a 10 p.m. closing time for bars and restaurants apart from takeout service, in addition to capacity limits that affected receptions at weddings and funerals.

Walz has said over the past few weeks that any new “dial-back” measures would be concentrated on settings that showed high levels of COVID-19 transmission.

Outbreaks in restaurants and bars are linked to nearly 2,800 infections from the new coronavirus at about 140 locations, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Health on Monday.

Gyms have had 58 outbreaks that resulted in 747 cases, or about 15 cases for each outbreak.

As hinted at Monday, Walz will also unveil new restrictions on youth sports that will affect both fall playoffs and winter sports.

Walz said Tuesday that unless action is taken now, youth sports would be forced to close due to a lack of players, coaches and referees who’ve fallen ill.

“If we don’t get a handle on this, it is not going to be a choice of whether we keep it open,” he said.

The anticipated new restrictions come as Minnesota is seeing a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, which are putting stress on the health care system, which is also taxed by admissions related to car accidents, heart attacks, strokes and other emergencies.

Hospitals are also have difficulty scheduling health care workers to care for patients, either because they themselves have become infected or if they have had a high risk exposure to someone with COVID-19. Under health guidelines, those exposures means the health care workers must quarantine for 14 days.

“The hospital space is going to become much more of a concern over the next three weeks,” Walz said.

Older people still account for most COVID-19 hospitalizations, but a growing number of younger and middle-aged patients are needing care across nine hospitals at Bloomington-based HealthPartners.

In August and September, the health system admitted 113 patients with COVID-19 ages 20 to 49 for hospital care, said Dr. Mark Sannes, an infectious disease specialist. In October and the first half of November, the comparable figure was 207 patients — an increase of about 83%.

“I think the burden of COVID-19 in the community is great enough now that we are seeing all age groups represented in the hospital,” Sannes said. “What would have been a rare event back in the spring is now, just by virtue of so many being infected, less of a rare event.”

Staff writer Christopher Snowbeck contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Check back on startribune.com for more updates.