ST. PAUL, Minn. (KELO.com) — Yesterday, Governor Walz announced a new Executive Order, which authorizes the Minnesota National Guard to provide assistance during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.
The Minnesota National Guard’s initial mission is to transport personal protective equipment (PPE), such as protective face masks, from storage at Camp Ripley to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
Executive Order 20-13 helps address the critically low supply of PPE in Minnesota’s hospitals and health care facilities, as well as the delivery delays from the federal government’s Strategic National Stockpile.
“In times of need, Minnesotans pull together to make sure we have the resources and supplies we need to get through challenges,” said Governor Walz. “Minnesota’s hospitals, health care facilities, and first responders are in desperate need of personal protective equipment, and I’m grateful to have the Minnesota National Guard’s partnership in delivering these supplies for Minnesotans.”
Activation of the Minnesota National Guard has already begun and is active through the duration of the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.
(Gov. Tim Walz contributed this report/news release.)
