Minnesota enters the peak travel period between Memorial Day and Labor Day as COVID-19 cases decline and vaccinations pile up. Remaining state restrictions on indoor capacity expired on Friday, May 28, just weeks after a nationwide mask mandate was lifted.
If you are fully vaccinated, said Kris Ehresmann, Director of the Infectious Diseases Department of Health, this week this weekend will be your chance “to really enjoy it and have a great weekend with the rest of your family who are fully vaccinated.” “”
Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Minnesotans are still advised to wear masks and stay socially distant, Ehresmann said, and they are at risk of contracting the disease if they attend large gatherings, especially indoors.
It’s hard to predict how many Minnesotans will be traveling this weekend, be it by car or plane. The coronavirus pandemic depressed Memorial Day travels something in the past year and could do so again, though to a lesser extent now that vaccines for COVID-19 are available.
Nationwide, there were 20% fewer cars than usual on the last Memorial Day weekend in Minnesota, according to the State Department of Transportation. In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, traffic fell by 40%.
According to spokeswoman Anne Meyer, MNDOT does not publish any official traffic forecasts, but is expecting a bump this weekend compared to last year. At the same time, the State Department of Public Safety warns residents with travel plans to drive safely.
The safety agency said Thursday, May 27, that 158 of the 394 road deaths recorded in Minnesota in 2020 occurred between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That makes last summer the deadliest for drivers in the state in a decade, according to the DPS, which found that the number of road deaths has already risen 39% year over year in 2020.
“If driver behavior doesn’t improve significantly, Minnesotans could see a tragic repeat of last summer,” the agency said in a press release.
Even so, Minnesotans may already be planning to leave town this weekend if state park reservations are showing.
“We’re at or near all-time highs in terms of the overnight rate,” Rachel Hopper, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said in an email.
As of Tuesday, May 25, roughly 93% of park campsites and cabins were booked for the weekend, Hopper said, compared to 89% at that point in 2019, which she thinks is more common. At least being outdoors, “for everyone is just a safer environment with regards to COVID,” as Ehresmann emphasized this week.
Nationwide, AAA predicts 37 million Americans will drive 50 miles or more this weekend, up 60% from last year. That’s still 6 million drivers less than the 2019 Memorial Day weekend, the auto insurer said, but this is a 2020 rebound that has been the least traveled since it started keeping records in 2000.
The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline rose one cent to $ 3.04 over the weekend, AAA also reported this week, and is likely to fluctuate. For comparison, Minnesota posted an average price per gallon of $ 2.84 on Thursday, May 27, an increase of nearly $ 1 over the course of the year.
