Grocery store workers in Minnesota classified as emergency workers

Grocery store workers in Minnesota will now have access to free child care after the state classified them as emergency workers during the coronavirus outbreak, NBC News reported. 

An executive order signed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday stated that emergency workers deemed “critical” to the state’s response to the outbreak would be provided child care.

The workers affected include “providers of healthcare, emergency medical services, long-term and post-acute care; law enforcement personnel; personnel providing correctional services; public health employees; firefighters and other first responders; and court personnel.”

Food distribution workers – which includes grocery store clerks, stockers and cleaning staff, as well as deli and produce staff – will also have access to free care for their children after Walz recently classified them as “Emergency Tier 2” workers, according to NBC News.

The Hill has reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

The Minnesota Grocers Association praised Walz’s executive order, saying on Twitter that the action will allow the “frontline workers childcare as they serve and feed Minnesotans” during this “challenging time.”

It’s been nearly two weeks since Minnesota reported its first presumptive case of the coronavirus. Since then, the state has recorded 89 cases across 16 counties, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Thursday.

Across the globe, more than 222,600 cases and more than 9,300 deaths have been confirmed, as well and over 84,500 recoveries, according to John Hopkins University data.