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"Stay at Home" Order Closes Restaurants
Minnesota governor Tim Walz issued the "Stay At Home" order which included the closures of all restaurants and bars in Minnesota, plus much more. Nick Blekestad, a cook at the Applebee's in Mankato, was placed on furlough along with all of his other coworkers and had to file for unemployment. Though the restaurant was open for take out orders, the cooks were still not allowed to work because the managers took over the cooking and carside duties. -
MNSU Spring Break Extended
Minnesota State University, Mankato's spring break was supposed to end March 15th but was extended until March 29th upon hearing the threats of COVID-19. When classes resumed on March 30th, they were moved online and students finished the semester from home. -
COVID-19 Cases on the Rise
The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Minnesota is 576 with 10 deaths and 24 patients in the intensive care unit. Government officials prepare for a jump in cases by making plans of adding more hospital beds and getting more personal protective equipment. This photograph shows a PPE supply closet at Mayo Clinic. -
Nick Goes Back to Work
Despite the restaurants only being open for take out, the cooks of Applebee's in Mankato are told to come back to work. Nick and coworkers make their return to save the over-worked managers who had dealt with busy take-out orders on their own for nearly two months. -
MN Restaurants Reopen at Half Capacity
Governor Walz announced that Minnesota restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen for indoor seating. The seating was limited to half capacity, meaning tables were marked as unavailable. Most restaurants also put on a "sanitation specialist" to go around and sanitize everything from tables and chairs to hand rails and bathroom stalls. Though Nick had returned to work in May, the rest of the Applebee's staff was now allowed to come back. -
Rachel Gets Laid Off
Rachel Whipple, 25 of Grand Forks, North Dakota, had been working at the North Dakota chapter of American Cancer Society as a Community Development Manager for about a year before being laid off. Due to COVID-19, the company experienced a huge loss of revenue and had to lay off 25 percent of all their staff. Here is a photograph from an ACS event Rachel worked at for survivors. -
Outbreak at Applebee's
After almost three weeks of Minnesota bars and restaurants being open, there is a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in Blue Earth county. Five Applebee's employees tested positive shortly after reopening. Nick was sick and had to get tested before he could return to work. The results took five days because of the surge, but were negative. Many employees refused to come back to work until the restaurant underwent a deep cleaning and they all had time to get tested. -
A COVID-19 Wedding
Maurria Whipple and fiancé Steven Trujillo had set their wedding date for June 6th, 2020 in the Riviera Maya in Mexico, but COVID-19 made them change their plans. After months of struggle and debate, they decided to move their wedding to August 8th, 2020. With travel outside of the US being prohibited, the two changed their location to a small event space in Truchas, New Mexico, just two hours from their home in Albuquerque. Friends and family were able to attend the small ceremony. -
COVID-19 Can't Stop All the Fun
Though COVID-19 has taken an emotional toll on everyone, it isn't stopping all of the excitement in people's lives. Rachel, who got engaged in March before COVID-19 hit, was still able to go wedding dress shopping for her upcoming wedding in May of 2021. Though she was allowed to go, her number of guests was limited to two and she brought her sister and maid of honor Olivia, and her mom Denise. She found "the one" after two stores and 10 dresses. -
COVID-19 Stops Some of the Fun
COVID-19 has forced many people to cancel or change their plans, whether for weddings, funerals, birthdays, or graduations. Maurria was set to take a trip to Arizona for a friend's bachelorette party but had to cancel last minute. Maurria works as a nurse and if she were to have gone, she would've had to mandatorily quarantine for at least 10 days upon return, time she couldn't afford to take off. This picture is from Maurria's bachelorette party. -
A COVID-19 Exposure
Maurria's boss knowingly had COVID-19 and still came in to work, exposing numerous nurses and other staff, who do in-home patient visits. Because of this exposure, Maurria had to not only get tested for the virus, but had to quarantine for 10 days. Those 10 days were taken out of her own sick time despite it happening because of her job. Though she tested negative, she still had to quarantine a full 10 days. -
Rachel Finds a New Job
After months of job hunts and small unemployment checks, Rachel finally lands a job with the Community Violence Intervention Center in Grand Forks as a school liaison. In this position she will have the opportunity to visit schools and teach them about a myriad of topics like sexual assault, harassment, domestic abuse, and more. -
MN Restaurants Close Down Again
Governor Walz makes an announcement that all Minnesota restaurants and bars will shut down again for indoor seating but will still allow take-out orders. Many employees were forced to go back on unemployment. Being a cook, Nick is still allowed to work but his hours have been reduced considerably due to slow business. This image shows the hauntingly quiet kitchen of Applebee's since the shut down. -
A Zoom Thanksgiving
Most families were forced to spend Thanksgiving over Zoom due to an increase in positive cases of COVID-19 following Halloween. Maurria and Rachel both had plans to return home for the holiday but that was put to a halt by their mom who works as a nurse in the medical intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She has been taking care of COVID-19 patients for months and didn't want to risk exposing her children upon knowing the horrible dangers that may come with the virus. -
COVID-19 Cases Rise After Halloween
As of December 2nd there has been a total of 320,301 positive cases in Minnesota with 7,176 more probable cases. The number of confirmed death cases is 3,613. The numbers have continued to rise since Halloween and a fear of a larger outbreak is present because of Thanksgiving. The age range reporting the highest number of cases is 20-24. Here, Denise Whipple poses with a fellow nurse in their PPE gear ready to fight COVID-19 in their full medical intensive care unit.
